Page 105 of The Revenge Game

I turn to look at Drew.

He’s biting his lip, his forehead creased in that way I’ve come to recognize means he’s lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

Drew snaps his head up. In the dim light, his eyes look huge behind his glasses. “I’m just thinking about how we can believe we understand a situation perfectly, but really, we actually have no idea. Like, two people can exist in the same moment but be living completely different stories.”

“That feels very profound,” I say.

His eyes slide away from mine. “Profoundness is what I aim to provide,” he says, exhaling shakily, his breath creating a small cloud in the cold air. “Anyway, didn’t you say something about a light show?”

I check my watch. “It starts in ten minutes. Do you want to watch it together?”

“Yeah, I do,” Drew says. “Though if they have mechanical reindeer, I’m using you as a human shield.”

I laugh, the sound carrying away on the crisp December air. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from murderous Christmas decorations.”

As we make our way through the crowd toward the light show, I grab Drew’s hand again. He looks down at where our hands are joined but doesn’t protest. Instead, his fingers squeeze my hand, his thumb gently running over my thumb. It’s like he’s sending some kind of secret code through our joined palms, one that translates directly to my heartbeat.

This is what I like so much about Drew. I can be completely myself with him in a way I’ve never been with anyone else.

And the fact that Drew was the one to help me understand this about myself? That feels significant.

I might not be out yet, but when we reach the patch of grass near the edge of the park beneath a canopy of fairy lights, I don’t hesitate to wrap my arm around his waist, pulling him closer as the Christmas light show begins to dance above our heads.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Andrew

My head is a tangle of thoughts.

I’m still reeling from the fact Justin has face blindness.

Because it changes everything about that night at the pub that started this whole debacle. I’d interpreted his blank look as the ultimate insult, proof that I’d meant so little to him that he couldn’t even remember my face.

But he literally couldn’t recognize me.

Justin and I go to his apartment after the Winter Wonderland. He kisses and touches and makes love to me with such intensity that every nerve ending in my body is rewired to respond only to him, leaving me trembling and breathless against his sheets.

After he’s fallen asleep with his arms around me, I gently extract myself from his embrace, turning toward him so I can study the faint freckle just below his ear, the way his forehead smooths out in sleep, the stubble along his jaw that I’ve now memorized with my fingertips.

I’d hated him so much in high school, but hadn’t one small part of me actually liked the fact that Justin paid attention to me?

It meant Justin Morris, captain of the football team, class president, the most gorgeous guy in existence, had noticed me.

And when I saw him in the pub, hadn’t that been the thing that had bothered me the most? The fact that he hadn’t recognized me?

So I’d come up with this elaborate scheme, disguised as getting one back for the little guy, just to get him to notice me again.

I’ve gotten my wish.

Justin Morris is definitely noticing me now.

And I have no idea if I actually want him to stop.

The thought is still swirling around in my head when I arrive at Justin’s apartment the next evening after work.

“Perfect timing,” Justin calls out from the kitchen. “Dinner’s just about ready.”