"Are you sure? They look kinda heavy."
I whirl around and face him. "What are you doing?"
"Offering help." He shrugs, giving a sheepish smile. "I always carry your books for you, remember?"
What is he, dense? He's acting like things are fine between us. Pretending like the cheating never happened. Well, it did. And I'm not about to forget that.
I press my lips into a thin line. "Yes, I remember that. Just as clear as I remember you cheating on me."
"Now, that's a fucking burn if I ever heard one," a passing Bennett hoots—causing me to bite back a smile—flipping Liam off when the latter glares at him.
"Dick," Liam mutters.
But he already lost my attention. My eyes are fixed on Parker, who's walking alongside Jamie. As if sensing my gaze on him, he stares back. Is it my imagination or did his expression soften? But then his eyes shift over to Liam, and a muscle works in his jaw before he looks away.
Suddenly, I have the strong urge to walk up to him and tell him it's not what he thinks it is. It's all I can do to stop myself from doing just that.
"What's going on with you and Parker?" Liam demands, reminding me that he's still there.
"None of your concern." I turn my back on him and start to walk to class.
He curses. "Sawyer, wait."
I pretend not to hear him. Pretend not to notice the curious glances being thrown our way. But I stop dead when I see Peyton glaring at us from her locker.
My lips curl as I meet her angry gaze. "Don't worry. I have no plans of stealing him back. He's all yours."
Whispers sound out around us, but I ignore those, too. At this point, they've turned into nothing but white noise.
"You don't mean that," Liam protests behind me.
Seriously, what the hell is he doing?
I clench my books to my chest, silently reminding myself that it's not smart to clock him in the face.
Peyton's face crumples, clearly hurt at his words that for a brief second I feel sorry for her.
But then I remember what she did, and any sympathy I feel toward her flies out the window. Shaking my head, I leave them to their own drama and go straight to class.
"Everything okay?" Brayden asks when I settle on my seat next to his.
"Yeah." I offer a bright smile.
I have no idea what Liam is up to, why he's acting the way he is. But I'm not going to let his antics get to me. I'm not going to waste time thinking about him anymore.
But Quinn is not making that easy. After her cheer practice, she goes over to my house and declares that we're having a sleepover.
"Are you going to tell me about it?" she asks from the floor of my bedroom as she applies pink polish on her toes.
"Tell you what?" I reply absently, turning another page of the urban fantasy novel I'm reading on my Kindle.
"About what happened in the locker hall today?" She glances up at me, her brows arched.
"Oh, that."
Yeah, of course she knows. I'm actually surprised that she waited this long to grill me about it. She didn't pounce on the subject right away, when normally she'd be all over it.
"Yeah, that." When I don't say anything, she presses. "Well?"
"It was nothing. Liam just offered to carry my books. I turned him down. That's all."
"Don't hold out on me, S," she huffs impatiently. "I know Peyton was there."
"Yeah, she was." I scrunch up my nose and set the Kindle down on the bed next to me. "But it wasn't like there was a confrontation or whatever. She didn't even say anything."
"But I heard you said some things to her."
"Like I said, it was nothing. I just told her not to worry about me stealing Liam from her."
Quinn throws her head back and laughs. "Are you serious? Oh my God, I can only imagine the look on her face. She must have been so pissed!"
A smile breaks out from my lips. "Yeah, she kinda was."
"Ugh. I should've been there." She actually looks a little bummed.
But if Quinn had been there, she'd have told Liam off before he could even say anything to me. And, in turn, I wouldn't have the chance to say those words to Peyton.
Yeah, maybe it was a good thing she wasn't there.
"So, what are you going to do with Liam?"
"Um, nothing?" What am I supposed to do with him, anyway?
She gives me a pointed look. "He obviously wants to get back in your good graces. Meaning, he wants you back, Sawyer. Question is, what are you going to do with that information?"
My shoulders stiffen. "What makes you think he's looking for a reconciliation?"
"What, did you seriously think he was just being chivalrous when he made that offer?"
"Of course not." I shoot her an indignant look, then let out a heavy sigh. "I thought he was just feeling guilty. That maybe he wanted to make up for what he did in any capacity he could."
Quinn scoffs. "If he was only feeling guilty, he'd just make himself scarce. He wouldn't try to get your attention." She shakes her head. "No. That asshole wants you back."
Can Quinn be right? Does Liam really want to get me back?
Not that there's a chance in hell that's ever going to happen. Our relationship ended the moment I caught him in that bed with Peyton. No matter how hard he tries to win me over—even if he begs—there's no going back. No picking up where we left off and pretending it didn't happen.
Because it did and I saw it. And I won't ever forget it.
I was a clueless idiot when we were still together. I'm not going to make the same mistake again.
Liam O'Leary can shove his groveling efforts up his ass.
CHAPTER 10
Sawyer
"Dunn, Green, you two will partner for
