Page 26 of Come Back to Me

As I walk away, Dani peeps her head out from behind the bleachers.

I end up behind the bleachers on the oppositeside where Dani is where Grayson can’t see me.

The tears that were lining the rims of my eyes are pouring out now. I can’t control them at all. Burying my face into my hands, I feel my entire body shaking. I drop to the floor, landing on my ass.

I look up and see Dani sneak out of the arena before I can say anything to her.

I’m so confused. I thought she said she wouldn’t leave me unless we needed to be alone. I guess she thinks this is the right time to leave and for us to be alone.

A large, humanlike shadow appears on the ground in front of me, but I don’t turn around.

“Vi,” Grayson says.

I bend my legs, bringing them up to my chest. “Leave me alone.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. You’re choosing not to. Do you know that doors can be used to walk into and out of a room?”

He sits down in front of me, criss-cross applesauce.

I shift my body the opposite way, so I’m staring at the basketball court. A strong hand gently lands on my shoulder, which makes my body shudder and my breath hitch. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” he asks, confusion laced throughout his tone.

“I don’t want you touching me.”

“Now you know how it feels.”

“What are you talking about?” I turn back around, facing him and meeting his gaze.

His dark brown eyes are staring at me so intensely, I can feel them deep in my bones.

Am I a teenager again?

“Do you really think I forgot about you? You have the kind of face that sticks with someone and appearsin their dreams at night. I see your face everywhere I go. I can’t escape you, Violet. No matter how hard I try. You’re always there. And there’s this string trying to tether me to you.”

I feel my pulse speeding up like a race car. I drop my head, blinking my eyes multiple times in a row as my lips quiver. “You’re right. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here and interrupted your life. You can pretend I was never here in the first place.”

Pushing up off the hard ground, I stand up.

He inches towards me, but I walk away from him before he can get any closer to me.

He huffs loudly. “Fine. Go ahead. Walk out that door. I knew you’d come back into my life just to break my heart all over again. And you were here for what, thirty minutes? Imagine what you could do to me if you were here for several hours.” He releases a deep breath. “So, yeah, do what you do best. Run away. It’s not like you haven’t done that before.”

I storm over to him. “Do you know how hard it was for me to come here? I knew you’d react like this. And you have every right to, but don’t invalidate my feelings, so you can make yourself feel better.” I let out a broken breath. “I haven’t talked to Blake in six years. Do you know why? Because I fucking hate him for what he did to you…andus. I don’t talk to my mother anymore because she didn’t want to establish a relationship with me. My father is wrapped around my mother’s finger. They never cared about me.Youdid.”

He’s listening intently and watching every part of my face move.

I continue my train of thought. “Yeah, the Prescott family mansion might be pretty on the outside. Oh, but let me tell you, it’s ugly on the inside. I’m not telling you this, so you can pity me. I’m telling you all this because I’m notperfect. I have my issues, and I’m doing my best to work on them. We don’t hide anything from each other.”

“No, that’s what weusedto do,” he says with so much pain written all over his face. “Do you know that I haven’t fallen in love with another woman? I haven’t been in a serious relationship because I know it wouldnevercompare to the relationship we had together.”

I freeze, stunned by the admission. “You haven’t?”

“Have you?”

I gently shake my head.