He Deleted My Number After 972 Messages of Love Chapter 09

He Deleted My Number After 972 Messages of Love Chapter 09

I decided I’d invite Ezra out for lunch at noon to thank him properly.

When the dismissal bell rang, I hurried over toward him.

Ezra was surrounded by a crowd of classmates.

Jesse held out a bottle of water toward him. “It’s been a while—wanna grab dinner tonight?”

Chloe also stepped forward and handed him a towel. “We’re treating you, actually.”

She dragged out the word “we” on purpose to lay emphasis on it.

Ezra caught the meaning right away. “You two are together now?”

“Can’t you tell it’s pretty obvious?”

I froze where I stood.

My throat felt tight and stuffed up, as if a damp clump of cotton was wedged inside, leaving me short of breath for a moment.

Chloe spotted me and tilted her head. “Sadie, who are you looking for over here?”

Every pair of eyes turned toward me.

I parted my lips and struggled to find my voice. “I’m not here to see anyone.”

With that, I walked calmly past the group and left.

Seeing Chloe chatting so comfortably with Ezra triggered what felt like a stress-induced panic response, and I could barely stop my whole body from shaking.

I found myself spiraling toward the worst, most uncharitable assumptions about his motives: Had everything that happened on that bus been intentional on his part? Was he just like Jesse—did he also have a crush on Chloe, approaching me on her orders to mess with me and toy with me once he’d gotten close?

I would never forget how broken I’d been on my birthday, when Jesse had broken up with me completely out of the blue.

I’d reached for his hand, begging him to stop joking around. He’d pulled away and admitted he’d had someone else he liked all along, that he’d only dated me because of a bet.

“Being in a relationship with you was just a chore I had to check off a list. Once the three months were up, my assignment was finished. That’s just how things are. Let’s be realistic—what kind of compensation are you looking for?”

I hadn’t realized I’d been clenching my fists so hard that my nails had dug into my palms.

Once I’d calmed down, only one thought settled firmly in my head: I needed to stay far away from Ezra.