“Why do you live here?” I couldn’t keep the distaste out of my expression.
Marco grimaced and sank down onto the edge of his bed. “I had to get my own place, but I don’t exactly have a lot of money. My friend knows the guy who owns this place. The rent is cheap. My roommate, however, isn’t worth it.” He gestured to the door and everything that was going on beyond it. “I’ll be moving out as soon as possible.” His eyes narrowed on me. “Doesn’t answer the question of why the hell you of all people are at a place like this?”
“Me of all people? I’m at a party, Marco. I’ve been known to do that sometimes.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Not this kind of party. Hannah, you need to go. You can’t be here.”
“I came with Sadie.”
“Of course you did.” Marco wasn’t a big fan of Sadie. “We’ll find her and go.”
“Or…” I took a step toward him and noted his eyes lowered, moving over my legs before he could stop them. “We could stay. Hang out. We haven’t done that in a while.”
His jaw clenched. “Hannah, just leave.”
I had weeks of being pissed off to fuel my anger. “Fine! You stay here and I’ll go back to the party.”
“Don’t you dare.” He stood up abruptly.
“Or what?” I taunted him. “Are you going to throw me out? Just like you’re throwing me out of your life?”
“You don’t belong here!” he yelled, taking me aback.
I flinched but stood my ground. “If you’re here, I’m here!”
Marco seemed stumped by that.
He hung his head, staring at the floor.
“I miss talking to you,” I whispered sadly.
His eyes flicked to me and he couldn’t hide the remorse and tenderness in them. I almost closed mine in relief.
“How have you been?” he asked gruffly.
I shrugged. “Fine, I guess. School is good. I got an unconditional offer from Edinburgh University.”
Marco smiled a little. “That’s awesome. I’m proud of you.”
I smiled back, feeling warmth course through me at his praise. I took another step toward him. “How’s work?”
“It’s fine. I still work shifts at the restaurant.”
I’d told him months ago how surprised I was to discover he was working for his uncle. I asked him why he’d hid it from me. He said it was a shit situation and not worth talking about.
“You’ve haven’t broken away from them?”
He shook his head. “They adopted me so I could live in the UK. I owe them for getting me out of a bad situation in Chicago. I owe my aunt. She’s been good to me.”
“But you’re not living there anymore?”
He looked up at me, his expression solemn. “I worry what I might end up doing if I stayed there. I had to leave.”
“Marco,” I breathed, aching for him and wishing I could just wrap my arms around him.
“I don’t want your sympathy. I never have,” he snapped.
“Oh, get over yourself, you big baby. I’m allowed to be upset for you. It comes with the territory of caring about you.”
He grunted. “Just say it how you feel it, Hannah.”
As our eyes clashed the air felt suddenly electric between us. “Are you sure you mean that?”
He knew where I was leading. He shook his head. “Don’t.”
“Why?” I asked softly, trying to fight my frustration and failing. “You know I care about you, and you know… you know I want to be with you. You can’t keep avoiding that.” I sucked in a breath. “Why did you react the way you did to seeing me with Scott? Why did you say what you said to me in Douglas Gardens all those months ago? In fact, why have you looked out for me all these years if you didn’t feel the same way back?”
He squeezed his eyes shut tight, pinching the bridge of his nose. With a groan, he hung his head.
I almost laughed. “That’s not an answer.”
“Hannah” – he sighed, still not meeting my eyes – “I looked out for you because you’re a good girl and I didn’t want scum like Jenks touching you. I said what I said in the gardens that night because I meant it. Because you’re important to me. You’re my friend and I don’t have a lot of those. As for Scott…” He shook his head. “Fuck knows.”
I moved toward him, my pulse throbbing in my neck. “I think you know.”
His eyes blazed. “It’s not what you think.”
I closed the distance between us, my body brushing his as I tilted my head back to look into his face. He didn’t step back. I took that as a good sign. “It’s exactly what I think.”
The muscle in his jaw ticked and something powerful and perhaps dangerous emanated from him. “You need to leave.”
“Don’t.”
“Hannah, leave now.”
“Marco —”
“Hannah, leave!” he growled, his body heat burning me.
I flinched, rejection and anger molten within me. “You are such a coward!”