Page 42 of I Would Stay Forever (Parkhurst Prep #2)

I looked at Dean in a panic, who mouthed “Football?” I was glad he didn’t speak and make Ainsley wonder who I was with.

Ainsley knew I’d handed in my group project yesterday, so I couldn’t even pass it off as a school thing.

I mouthed back “soccer match” and his eyes widened.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who’d forgotten.

I cleared my throat as I redirected my attention to my phone call. “I don’t think I can come tonight, actually. Volleyball practice was brutal and I have a bunch of homework to do.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, hating that I was lying to her. But I couldn’t show up tonight—not when Sebastian and I were in a fight and my every waking thought was consumed with the kisses I’d shared with Dean. It was a recipe for disaster.

“Oh.” Over the phone, it was hard for me to tell if her tone was disappointed or merely surprised.

“You don’t mind, do you?” I asked. “You’ll have Imogen and Nora there with you. And I’ll try to come to the next one.”

If Sebastian and I made up by then. Although based on our last fight, it could take much longer than that.

Dean hit my arm and I looked at him with a frown, unsure what I could have said that he would care about.

He tried to mouth something to me, but I couldn’t make sense of it as Ainsley started speaking again, talking about how she’d miss me but she understood.

We hung up a moment later and I dropped my phone back onto the turf.

“What was that for?” I asked, rubbing at my arm even though it didn’t hurt at all.

“Why is my sister going to Sebastian’s soccer game?” he asked. “She doesn’t even come to my football games.”

I hesitated, wondering if Dean had noticed something between Nora and Sebastian like I had.

It was the only reason I could imagine that he would get hung up on that detail.

But I didn’t want to stir trouble for Nora, especially when I didn’t know anything was going on, so I defaulted to the easier answer.

“She’s friends with Ainsley,” I said. “They’re on the swim team together and Ainsley told me that they got paired together for a project in Public Speaking. They’re probably just starting to hang out more.”

Dean nodded, although he didn’t look one hundred percent convinced. I kept my mouth shut. If he asked me directly if I thought something was going on, I might say something, but I wasn’t going to offer up that information when I had no proof.

Dean rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, holding his head up with his hand as he looked at me.

“So why aren’t you going to the game?” he asked. “And don’t tell me it’s because volleyball practice was rough, because I just saw you sprint across this field like it was nothing.”

I laughed as I remembered the game, but it disappeared just as quickly as I thought about his question again. I sighed and rolled onto my back so I could look up at the sunset gracing the sky.

“Did you know Tiffany and Sebastian are back together?” My voice sounded odd even to my own ears, like I was putting on a calm tone even though it was obvious I was anything but.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “I had the pleasure of going out for lunch with them yesterday. Fun fact: Tiffany has no qualms about making out with Sebastian in front of his friends.”

I gagged at the mental picture. “She’s probably just jealous of how close you two are. Heaven knows he keeps you around more than her.”

Dean snorted. “Please don’t point that out to her. She already hates me enough.”

“Join the club.” I let the silence wash over us for a minute before I continued my explanation.

“Sebastian promised me he wouldn’t get back together with her.

I told him it would be just like Mum going back to Dad, only maybe even worse because Tiffany keeps promising she’ll change and she never does.

He promised me, and then less than a fortnight later and he’s back in her arms. And he didn’t even bother to tell me.

I had to find out through Ainsley and Imogen. ”

I felt a brush of Dean’s fingers on my wrist and when I looked down, I saw that he was playing with the hair elastic I’d left there after practice. He kept his eyes on it instead of me as he spoke.

“Sometimes people aren’t ready to admit things aren’t good for them,” he said. “You have to give him time to realize it on his own.”

“That’s just the thing, though. He did know. He did understand. He just chose to ignore it anyway.” Tears pricked at my eyes and I was embarrassed at how obvious it was in my tone as I said, “I just hate to see him let himself get hurt over and over again.”

Dean let out a long breath and lowered himself back down to the turf, wrapping an arm around me. I let him pull me in close and pressed my face against his shoulder, telling myself that if I cried like that where nobody could see, it didn’t really count.

We needed to leave before anybody found us.

It would be so easy for someone to wander onto the wrong field as they looked for the soccer match and find us here together.

But Dean was in no rush and I didn’t have any interest in walking from him, so I just laid in his arms until long after the sun had set and my tears had dried, knowing that we would only get so many moments alone like this.