Page 165 of One Bad Idea

It was official. He was driving me crazy.Again.

In front of me, he said, "You wanna know what's funny?"

"What?"

"You."

I bristled. "Me?"

"Yeah. You, thinking you could end it."

My breath caught. "What doesthatmean?"

"It means," he said, "we're not over."

His words sparked an embarrassing surge of hope, followed quickly by a new dose of despair. It would be so easy to fall into his arms, to pick up where we left off, to pretend that I could be happy with a casual thing.

But I had to be honest. Iwouldn'tbe happy.

I blinked back tears. Then again, I wasn't happy now.

Into my silence, he said, "It was a mistake. You know that, right?"

Yes. I did.

All of this was a mistake, a big, giant mistake that would keep growing if I was stupid enough to give in to the temptation that was Jaden Bishop. And now, my eyes were burning with unshed tears. I took a useless swipe at them and murmured, "I know."

"No." His voice was very quiet. "I mean, it was a mistake to listen to you."

I gave a confused shake of my head. "What?"

His gaze met mine. "You said we wouldn't get attached."

I tried to smile. "And we didn't." Of course, this was only half true. I'd gotten far too attached for my own good. I just prayed that he couldn’t see it, because how humiliating wouldthatbe?

"Wrong," he said. "Maybe you didn't. ButIdid."

I swallowed. "You did?"

"What, you didn't know?"

"How would I know?" I said. "You never said anything."

"Yeah? And you wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I was a dumb-ass."

In spite of everything, I laughed. "You were not."

His eyebrows lifted. "Oh, sonowyou're being nice?"

"Hey, I'malwaysnice." I hesitated. "Okay, maybe not always-always. But most of the time."

"No, you're not." He edged a fraction closer. "You're a pint-sized ball of trouble."

"Me?" I sputtered. "What about you?"