He Chose His Old Crush and Lost Me Chapter 09

He Chose His Old Crush and Lost Me Chapter 09

We finished up the gala planning at the student council office.

By the time Ethan walked me back to my dorm, it was late.

I was just about to head inside when a low voice came from behind me.

“Lily.”

I stopped and turned.

My voice came out flat.

“Call me Lily. Wouldn’t want to blur any boundaries with the opposite sex, right?”

He closed his eyes. His chest rose and fell.

When he opened them again, he said, “We haven’t broken up.”

I laughed-hollow and sharp.

“Then who’s your girlfriend right now? The girl you’ve pined over for years and finally won? Or the one who’s been there for you all this time?”

Guilt flickered across his face, softened by the dim light, almost tender.

He dropped his head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

The sting hit my nose before I could stop it.

I nodded.

“Apology accepted. We’re done now.”

I turned.

His hand caught my wrist again.

Before my brain caught up, my body had already moved.

Jake’s head snapped back. A red mark bloomed across his cheek.

He let out a tired, brittle laugh.

“Feel better now, Lily?”

The tears I’d been choking down broke free.

He reached up to wipe my face.

“Don’t cry, Lily.”

I shoved his hand away.

“Stay out of it.”

I smiled at him-or tried to.

“Perfect timing, actually. We dated for a year and nobody ever knew. So let’s just pretend nothing happened. We go our separate ways.”

I turned and walked fast toward the dorm entrance.

His voice chased me.

“I know you and Ethan aren’t real-”

But I was already up the stairs. His words scattered in the wind.

What I didn’t see: Ethan had circled back.

He watched Jake from the shadows, smirking.

“Quit yelling. You look like a creep lurking outside a girls’ dorm.”

Jake’s expression shifted.

“Of course it’s fake. Lily’s not the type to play two people at once.”

Jake’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.

Ethan smiled, slow and deliberate.

“But fake today? Who’s to say it won’t be real tomorrow?”