“Oh, excuse me. Should I bow at your feet?” Finn snorted. “Yeah. Keep dreaming, asshole.”

“Go back to whatever trailer park you crawled out of, and leave us alone.”

“Cory. Stop it!” I snapped. Finn’s face revealed nothing, but I could feel how Cory’s words affected him as if we were attached to one another. As if when Finn hurt, so did I. “Stop being this way. I don’t like it.”

“You’d best listen to her.” Finn’s nostrils flared and he advanced on Cory. “I suggest you leave before I forget that Carrie asked me not to kick your pasty white ass, Cody.”

Cory took a swing at Finn, connecting with his eye. Finn could’ve avoided it easily, I’d seen him do so. But he let Cory hit him. Why? Finn rubbed the spot where Cory had hit him, but not before I saw the blood and the bruise already forming. And then he grinned. Grinned.

“Game on,” Finn said as he stalked toward Cory.

Cory paled, but stood his ground. He held up his fists. “Bring it.”

That’s it. I was leaving now, before I killed them both. Other girls might like being fought over, but I wasn’t one of them. “Finn, no.”

Finn stopped midstride, his entire body humming with anger and something else I couldn’t quite figure out. He took a step toward me and stopped. He tugged on the back of his head, torturing a poor curl. The look in his eyes haunted me. I’d hurt him. I could see it. Feel it.

“Leave. Now.”

Cory smirked and walked right up to Finn. He leaned in and whispered something. Finn’s face turned red, and then the next thing I knew, Cory was on the ground. He clutched his stomach, moaning and rolling around on the stone walkway. “You hit me. You actually hit me.”

Finn dropped to his knees and hauled Cory up by the shirt, his face inches away from Cory’s. “You ever say anything like that again, I’ll fucking kill you. You hear me?”

Cory pressed his hand to his stomach. “I’m going to report you to the police.”

Finn grinned, his eyes glinting maliciously. “Go ahead. Tell them I said hi.” He dropped Cory back to the ground. “Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and kick your ass.”

Cory stumbled to his feet and ran off, not even looking at me. His next stop would probably be reporting Finn to the police, and there would be repercussions from tonight. I closed my eyes and counted to three. “He’s going to call the cops, and you’re going to get arrested.”

“Fuck him,” Finn said, his voice tight.

I turned around to face Finn, but he had his back to me and his hands braced against a tree. “Did you hear me?”

His breath came fast and shallow. “I don’t give a flying fuck what the hell he does.”

“Well, I do.” I grabbed Finn’s shoulder and yanked. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

He spun on me, his entire body trembling with rage. “What’s wrong with me? Do you actually have to ask me that?”

“Yeah, I do!” I grabbed his arms and shook him. “You aren’t allowed to fly off the handle like that. You aren’t allowed to draw attention to yourself. You know that. What will my father say about this? What about your dad?”

He flung me off him. “I don’t give a damn anymore. Not about you. Not about anything.”

I stumbled back from the force of his words. It would’ve been kinder if he had hit me. “You know what? Go to hell.”

“Too late. I’m already there.”

“You have no idea what hell is. Hell is falling for someone for the first time and finding out that everything he ever told you was a lie. That everything you wanted to believe in was all a ruse to get close to you.”

He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. His hands fell at his sides, limp. “I didn’t lie to you about us. I’ve already told you that a million times, didn’t I?”

I shoved his shoulders, choking on the huge lump in my throat. Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them back. I didn’t have time for tears right now. “You’re not allowed to be hurt in this situation. You were the one who did this. You were the one who went and ruined everything.”

“You think I don’t regret it? Huh?” He ran his hands down his face and let out a strangled growl. “You think I don’t wish I could make it all go away, if only for one more night in your arms?”

I wanted that too. Only I wanted more than a night. I wanted to go back to what we’d been to each other. No lies. No secrets. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”

He dropped his hands to his side. “And I can’t sit here watching you fall in love with someone else. Especially him.”

“I’m not falling in love with him,” I said, my voice coming out thick. No, I was in love with Finn and had been since the second he walked into my life. There wasn’t room for anyone else in my heart.

“I quit.”

“You can’t quit,” I cried. “You promised me that you’d—”

“I promised to keep you safe. To watch over you.” He slashed his arm through the air. “I didn’t promise to watch you suck face with an asshole like him.”

I swallowed. “I don’t even like him like that.”

“I wish you the best of luck with life, but I can’t do this anymore. I care about you too much to stay at the side, watching you move on. I just…can’t.”

And with that, he turned on his heel and disappeared.

I wrapped my arms around myself and blinked back tears. He was leaving, and I’d never see him again. I should be happy. Thrilled. Instead, I wanted to chase after him and beg him to stay.

The next morning, my temper had cooled quite a bit, even if my feelings for Carrie hadn’t. One thing I knew I had to do? I had to tell her I loved her before I left. I had to give it one last shot. If she told me she didn’t give a damn about my feelings, then I’d leave. At least I would know I gave it all I had. I wouldn’t spend my life wondering what would have happened if I’d gotten the balls to tell her I loved her.

I hadn’t been lying when I told her yesterday she deserved better than me. She did. But no one else would love her as much as I could. No one else could make her feel as good, either. My phone rang and I glanced down. When I saw it was the senator, I sighed and picked it up. “Good morning, sir.”

“What’s this I hear about you punching Cory Pinkerton? What happened?”

I rubbed my temples. “Who told you?”

“The police called the campus, and the campus called me.” The senator sighed. “I’ll get it taken care of, but you better have a damned good reason for punching someone who could very well be a huge contributor to my campaign in the future.”

I swallowed the curses wanting to escape. “Yeah. Because your campaign is the most important thing here.”

“Are you insulting me, son?” His tone dropped, and I clenched the phone. “I can just as easily let the cops get their hands on your sorry ass. I’m sure your father would be displeased.”

Minus a huge pension, no doubt.

“No, sir.” I cleared my throat. “No disrespect.”

“Good.” I could practically hear the smug grin the senator wore. “Now tell me what happened.”

I filled him in, but in my version of the story, Carrie had already left and my cover hadn’t been blown. “So, I told him I was a jealous ex, punched him, and told him never to come near her again.”

“I’ll kill the little brat,” the senator said. “How dare he act that way toward my girl?”

I clenched my jaw. “I felt the same way, sir.”

“Good work, son. Keep in the shadows, and don’t be seen.”

This was the time to tell him I quit. Tell him I couldn’t stay here anymore, but I hung up on him without another word and tossed my phone across the bed. I’d had to make up a story, so now I had to fill Carrie in on the tale I’d told. Time to track her down and fill her in. And while I was at it, I’d tell her I was in love with her too.