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behind my lids. Every sleepless night, all I can think about is how bad I fucked things up.
The irony of it all is that I did it with silence.
I pound my palm into the steering wheel. Frustration has become my closest
companion. The only way to lift this fever in my life is Annie s forgiveness. I ve become
rabid for exactly that.
It s the last day of classes before Whitney Briggs breaks for Christmas. Annie
mentioned last week that she was going to give an oral presentation in her Digital
Studios class, and, as soon as she mentioned it, I knew I wanted to be there out of sight
of course, but I d die before I missed it. It s a stalker-like thing to do. I know it. But for
some reason this doesn t seem to deter me. I ve made every excuse to head over to
campus since our breakup, even made a point of eating dinner in the food court each and
every night just hoping to bump into her.
I head into the parking lot and jump out of my truck. A light snowfall quietly sprinkles
to the ground like it did that last night we were together.
Doris Hall looms before me like a relic from some long forgotten era in my life. I have
Annie s schedule memorized, the school mapped out to where she might be at any given
hour. As much as I respect her desire to keep our distance, I want to be there, unseen,
unheard, lingering like a ghost who wants nothing more than to support her in some
capacity. I m the first guy she let into her life her body and I m sure she s in deep
regret on both counts. A flood of students make their way inside. Class is getting ready to
begin. As much as I don t want to miss a second, the last thing I want to do is rattle her.
There s no way she can know I m here. I give it a few minutes before making my way into
the building, shaking the snow off my shoulders as I head down the hall.
A familiar looking dude looks my way before doing a double take.
It s Frenchie.
Hey, you he goes from Mr. Nice Guy to bouncer in zero point five what the hell
are you doing here? He looks back to the classroom, making sure Annie is nowhere in
sight. He seems to care about her. For all I know I might be staring at my replacement.
For a moment I envision them far into the future with a house, white picket fence, two
kids, two dogs, the whole deal. It unsettles me, makes me want to wrap my hands
around his neck because I know it s a possibility. But as much as I want to hate him, he
seems decent. He s everything I m not in a nutshell clean cut, wire-rimmed glasses, built
sturdy as a bookshelf.
I m not here to do anything. I glance past him. Don t tell her you saw me. I ll be
gone in a minute. That s not entirely true. I did bring her a gift I ve been meaning to give
her. It may have involved a small altercation with my father and a stray dog named Jeff,
but Annie was worth the scuffle. I m not sure how I m going to gift it to her. If nothing
else, I can leave it for her at the bar. But that s not what I m hoping. In fact, that s the
worst-case scenario.
Johanna, the bitch on heels that tried to squash Annie s feelings like a bug, comes
over and slings her arm around me.
Hey, big boy. She plants a wet one on my cheek. I ve been looking everywhere for
you!
Oh. Tristan blinks in surprise. I thought you were here for Annie. He looks from
Johanna to me. Never mind. He goes to leave, and I pull him back a second.
I dart my eyes into each of his pleading for some kind of brotherly connection, any
ounce of mercy he might be willing to show me.
How is she?
She s good. The muscles in his jaw flex, and he looks perturbed like I might be
stepping on his toes. Her head s all messed up. You hurt her pretty bad. Stay the fuck
away kay? He speeds into class without waiting for a response.
I d better go. Johanna runs her finger along my jawline. Don t worry about that girl.
I ve got ways to make you forget she ever existed. She dips her forefinger into her
mouth before trying to jam it in mine, and I stop her.
You want to do me a favor?
Anything for you, sugar. She leans in and takes a bite out of my ear.
Be nice to Annie. She s a great girl, and you d be lucky to call her a friend.
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