His eyebrow rose. “Really? Didn’t sound like nothing.”
“Just that...I’m sorry if my friends give him the evil eye when we go to the dance this weekend because of all the times I’ve complained about him,” I said, my brain moving quickly to get Michael off my back. There was no way I was confessing this to him. Not with the predatory way he was looking at me.
His lips pressed into a disbelieving smirk, but he remained silent. With the slight tilt of his head, he redirected his gaze toward the bulletin board and his name printed there. “Looks good, right? It’s too bad for you that I’m going to win on Saturday and put a damper on your stupid dance.”
I bristled at his claim, my nostrils flaring. “There’s no way you’re going to win, so I don’t even have to worry about it.”
He laughed. “And who’s going to beat me? Gabriel? If he’s too distracted to see through you and your lies, then he definitely won’t be focused enough to beat his own brother. Nice try, but it’s never going to happen. I’ve got big plans for that prize money and no one’s going to stand in my way.”
I wanted to lash out at him. To stand up for Gabriel and myself and put Michael in his place. But I remained silent, using every bit of strength left inside of me to simply glare at Michael as he smirked at me one last time and then headed toward the door. Along the way, he turned and walked backwards, making a kissing motion in my direction. I had the instant desire to scrub off the invisible kiss from my cheek.
How could I be falling for a boy related to that? I shook my head, wondering what had happened to make Michael so very different from his sweet and kind twin brother. Had he been dropped on his head as a child? Or maybe all the decent genes went to Gabriel. Whatever had happened, it was a medical mystery.
With Michael finally gone, I leaned against the wall, feeling all of the energy leave my body at once. That had been utterly exhausting. Not only had I not ended up confessing to Gabriel, but I’d nearly outed myself to his brother. What a terrible mistake that would’ve been.
The only thing left to do was tell Gabriel tomorrow after we presented our project in anatomy class. It couldn’t wait any longer than that. The truth would finally be out and then Gabriel could do what he wanted with it.
Even if that meant he never wanted to see me again.
Chapter Nineteen
“Is it too late to transfer schools?”
I stared hopelessly at the entrance to anatomy class, Lexi and Charlotte standing on either side of me. They were both watching me with pity in their eyes. They knew what came after this class. The big confession that I’d almost made to the wrong person yesterday. It had come time to make amends.
“Too late, sister,” Lexi said, prodding me gently with her elbow. “Go get your man.”
“He’s not my man. Not until he knows the whole truth and forgives me.”
I bit down hard on my bottom lip. The truth was always better than lying. It was something my mom had taught me as a young kid. I wished I’d followed that mantra from the beginning, but I knew she’d tell me that it was still better to fess up in the end. It would cleanse my soul from the burden of keeping this secret.
“Speaking of your man.” Charlotte nodded in the direction of the hallway.
Gabriel had just turned the corner, wearing a pair of khaki pants and a pink fitted polo. He looked amazing. We’d both agreed to dress up for our presentation and I’d worn the only dress in my closet—a simple black cotton dress with purple tights and a pair of boots I’d borrowed from the clothes my sister had left behind. As I stared at him walking towards us, my gaze went immediately to his scar. After my brush with Michael last night, I couldn’t help feeling a little suspicious of that extremely handsome face. But it was totally unnecessary, because when his eyes met mine, his whole face lit up in a way Michael’s never could.
“Hey.” He strolled to a stop in front of us, his gaze never leaving mine. “Ready for this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I gulped, knowing that Gabriel and I were talking about tw
o different things.
“Good luck,” Lexi whispered before she headed toward her own class.
The three of us remaining walked into Mr. Hart’s classroom and Gabriel and I took our seats at our desk. The whole class was buzzing with excitement and nerves. My attention darted around the room, taking in the sights of the other kids checking their notes and computer slides.
A hand tentatively touched mine beneath the desk and fire shot up my arm. I tore my gaze back to Gabriel, who gave me a sexy smile that made my stomach quiver, as he lightly caressed my palm.
“You look really pretty,” he said in a low voice.
I laughed nervously. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get used to his compliments. “Thanks. You do, too.” He grinned harder as I blushed and backpedaled. “I mean, you look really nice.”
“Thanks.” He bit his lip in a way that had me staring at the gorgeous curve of his mouth. “Any chance you want to skip next period and just go make out backstage the whole time?”
That really made my face heat. I stuttered out a nonsensical response while he just grinned at me in that maddeningly cute way of his.
“I’m not sure I got that,” he said, squeezing my hand.
I cleared my throat, willing it to work properly. “Actually, yeah, let’s meet backstage after class.”