But Duke is staring up at me expectantly. I can't let him down. "Maybe later, Dad. I'll walk Duke first."
To which Duke responds with an excited bark, as if to agree with me.
After changing into a black t-shirt and denim cutoffs, I go back into the kitchen to get Duke, making sure to attach his leash to his collar and grabbing a poop bag before heading outside.
Afternoon walks are my and Duke's thing. But whenever I'm not available, Mildred or Dad—and sometimes Avery—are there to take him out. We walk until we reach the park, and I sit on the swing, letting him sniff around the ground and play with some of the kids and the other dogs. But I make sure to keep an eye on him and his playmates. He can be a little too enthusiastic at times, and when that happens, he can accidentally knock kids into the ground.
We stay in the park for an hour, and I wait for Duke to do his business before leading him back to the house.
We're halfway down the road when a car—a painfully familiar car—slows down beside us, causing my heart to jolt. I grit my teeth and continue walking, pretending not to notice, silently willing him to drive away.
I thought I was ready to face him. But I'm not. I don't want to talk to him. I can't be around him.
When the sound of a window rolling down reaches my ears, I ignore it.
"Sawyer," Liam calls out.
Don't look at him. Don't look at him.
"Sawyer, please."
"Leave me alone." When his car falls behind, I assume he gave up and almost sigh a relieved breath.
But I'm proven wrong when a hand grabs my arm from behind. "Can we please talk?"
I have no choice but to stop and turn to face the boy who broke my heart. My traitorous eyes can't help but take in his handsome face, lingering on every feature.
God, but he looks so good in his letterman jacket, his blond hair seemingly tousled by his fingers. Or was it Peyton's fingers?
My eyes harden and I pull my arm off his hand. "What do you want from me, Liam? Are you here to gloat?"
"What? No. I—" He cuts himself off, running his fingers through his hair. "I just want to talk to you. To explain myself."
I bark out a laugh. "Is this some kind of a joke?"
"Sawyer—"
"Let me guess, you accidentally fell on that bed with your clothes off? And then what? Peyton accidentally fell on your dick?" I hiss, venom dripping from every word, before remembering something that makes my blood boil even more. "And what the hell were you thinking telling everyone that we were having sex? You damn well know that's not true!"
Learning that one from Parker was really just the icing on the cake. Who would've thought this guy's assholery could get any worse?
He opens his mouth but closes it again, shame crossing his features as he hangs his head. "I'm sorry."
I glare at him. "Which part."
"Both of them." A flush creeps up his cheeks, shame and regret written all over his face. "I'm really sorry for all I did, Sawyer."
"Well, I'm not," I say in a quiet voice.
Liam snaps his head up, his eyebrows drawn together. "What do you mean?"
"You and Peyton actually did me a favor."
He blinks, looking even more confused. "We did?"
"The two of you made me realize how lucky I am not to have you in my life anymore. Turns out, I'm better off without you."
Hurt crosses his features. "You can't mean that."
You're right. I don't. But you ripped my heart to shreds. I want you to hurt the way I hurt.
I shake my head and glance away, not wanting him to see the tears welling up in my eyes. I can't do this right now. "Don't talk to me again." I pull at Duke's leash. "Come on, boy. Let's go home."
His gaze feels heavy on my back as I walk away, and I'm thankful that my tears chose to fall when he could no longer see them.
CHAPTER 7
Sawyer
"I don't know if I should congratulate him for having the balls or hit the back of his head for being an idiot," Brayden muses as we sit waiting for our teacher in our Foreign Language class, after I told him about my run-in with Liam yesterday.
I force a smile. "How about the second one?"
His thick brows pinch together in a frown. "He seriously wanted to explain himself? Wasn't seeing them naked together in that bed enough proof?"
"I honestly don't know why he even bothered. Everyone saw them together. How else could he explain that?"
"Maybe it was his guilty conscience talking?"
And he wants to appease it by apologizing to me? Does he think he needs my forgiveness to find peace? Well, he can forget it.
"I don't think that's my problem anymore."
"It's really not," Brayden agrees. "He's just too dumb to see that."
Someone chooses the moment to walk into class, and we both look up thinking it's our teacher.
It's not. It's Peyton.
Talking ceases dramatically and everyone bounces their heads back and forth between us. I wonder, not for the first time, when they're going to stop doing that.
"She asked me to go sit with her at lunch today," Brayden says quietly.
My initial thought is to tell him to ignore her. To tell him to avoid her at all costs. But he's friends with her just as he's friends with me. She didn't do him dirty—just me. There's no reason for him to stop hanging out with her. Besides, I can't put Brayden in a position where he has to choose. It's not fair to him.
"Why don't you?"
He looks surprised by that. "You're okay with that?"
Not really. "She's your friend, too. I'm not going to make you choose between us. That'd be shitty."
"Well, if you're really sure…" But I can tell he's relieved to hear it. Which
