My Wolf’s Bane(19)

“Yeah, I didn’t mind then, but now sharing is getting old,” she said, her bottom lip thrusting out. “You’ve been stringing me along for a week.”

A week?

“Aw, don’t be like that, baby.” Daniel got a handful of Gina’s butt and she hooked her fingers around his collar, yanking him against her. “You know how I feel about you,” he cooed.

Their mouths met and the smacking sounds made me want to vomit. Slipping out unseen would’ve been easy. I’d just slide against the wall and slip through the door. However, if I caught them in the act, they couldn’t try to weasel out of it later by saying it was my imagination or not what I thought.

I stepped forward. “Really, you guys?”

They vaulted from each other like I’d sprayed them with a fire hose.

“Autumn.” Daniel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Gina stared at me, bug-eyed.

“My boyfriend and my friend.” I struggled to keep my voice from shaking. I couldn’t bear for Gina to know how much she’d hurt me. “Such a cliché.”

Gina’s eyes were cautious, shifting from him to me. “Autumn, I—”

“Save it.” Another emotion blended with the fury — disgust. “Daniel and I were over anyway, although you wouldn’t know it by all the I love you texts today.” I whipped out my phone and thrust the screen at her. “You guys are so perfect for each other.”

My face fell as soon as I turned away. How could they? I’d finished with Daniel days ago, but the betrayal stung just the same. Gina had a big mouth and could spread word faster than Twitter. She’d be only too happy to twist the truth and brag that Daniel had dumped me for her.

I halted, right in the middle of the field, as if paralyzed. Everyone would be talking about it, whispering to each other and feeling sorry for me. Whether I stayed in town two days or two weeks, being the victim of gossip still sucked.

My eyes stung. I looked back to see if Gina or Daniel had followed, but they hadn’t. Maybe they were relieved to end it, too.

Turning back toward my car, I trudged on. When I glanced up, I saw Zack heading right for me.

I slowed. Had he seen anything? Was he there to gloat?

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded, surprised he’d stopped to ask.

He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t look okay.”

“Like you care.” I wanted to tell Zack the truth, although I had no idea why. I gave a watery laugh as hot tears burned my eyes. “I just walked in on Daniel cheating on me.”

Zack sighed, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t drive when you’re upset. I’ll take you home. Can you get a ride back in the morning?”

I grabbed my backpack out of my car, tossed it in the Jeep and hiked up into the front seat. Zack to the rescue again. With his habit of saving me, he had to have been the one to fix my car.

“So you just happen to have a pump in your car, so you can fix flats during lunch?”

Zack sighed. “It’s a compressor, actually. Figured it would be faster than doing it after school when it’d be completely flat and you’d be there to distract me.”

Why did he have to be such an ass about it though?

“Well, thanks.” I sniffed, trying to erase the image of Gina and Daniel from my head.

“Who’d you catch him with? Anyone you know?” he asked, navigating the Jeep onto the street.

He’d find out soon enough, but drawing any more attention to how disposable I’d become as a friend and girlfriend was not something I wanted to discuss with Zack. “No one important. Why are you going out of your way to give me a ride?”

“You didn’t seem in any shape to drive. If you died on the way home and I could’ve prevented it, I’d feel bad.” He checked over his shoulder to make a turn. “Daniel is scum. I think that’s a rotten thing to do to anybody, whether they deserved it or not.”

“Are you implying I deserved it?”

“What?” His brows shot up as we passed through an intersection.

I’d had enough of people who thought I wasn’t worth treating right. I’d certainly had enough of Zack’s crap. I’d rather walk than spend one more second with him and his attitude. No matter how beautiful he was.

“Stop the freakin’ car,” I hissed. “I don’t need your charity or your attitude. I can walk back to school and get my car.” The Jeep still hadn’t slowed. “Stop the damn car,” I growled.

“Okay, okay. I’ll drive you back.” He groaned as he turned the Jeep around. “Whatever.”

That last comment just pissed me off more. Zack drove through the school gate and I reached for the handle before he’d even stopped. As my limbs vibrated with fury, I tugged on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “Damn thing is stuck.”