I feel my cringe before I can stop it. “Sorry.”
He lifts my face and looks into my eyes. “Never say that to me again. Never be sorry for anything you are, Addie. I’m falling for you precisely because you’re you.” He cracks a sexy smile that makes my groin tingle. “Totally against my better judgment, I might add.”
I buzz all over, both from his proximity and his admission. I pull him tighter against me. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to see each other every chance we get,” he kisses my forehead, “which would never be enough no matter the situation, and we’re going to wait. It’s not going to be like this forever. Just a few more months.”
“So, you’re thinking we can just, what? Be all, ‘yeah, we’re dating’ after I turn eighteen? What about your job?”
He cups my cheek and thumbs my chin, staring so deeply into my eyes that I feel him in my toes. But when he says, “At the moment, I’m more worried about your father,” I see the struggle behind his eyes.
He pulls back onto the road and I sit tucked under his arm the rest of the ride back. Everything feels so natural—so right. I brush his fingers across my lips and think about what he said. I feel more alive than I ever remember feeling. And it’s all because Marcus cared enough to see the glimmer of life under my shroud of invisibility.
Chapter 19
Marcus
When I call Principal Monroe’s office Monday before school to fill him in on the Corinne situation, I fully expect him to tell me he hasn’t heard anything from her and not to worry about coming in.
What he says instead is, “How quickly can you get here, Marcus?”
“Um…hold on.”
I look around the gym. There are a few people on the circuit weights and Brenda’s just getting ready to start her morning class.
“I need to run into school,” I tell her. “Can you handle things here for a few minutes?”
She nods. “Everything okay?”
I take a deep breath. “Probably not.”
She gives me a concerned look as I lift the phone back to my ear. “I’ll be right there.”
When I walk into his office, I’m expecting Corinne and maybe Melanie. What I’m not expecting is the pretty middle-aged Hispanic woman sitting in the chair across from Principal Monroe to stand and flash me a badge.
“Hello, Marcus,” she says. “I’m not sure if you remember me. My name is Detective Diaz”
I know exactly who she is, and my insides turn to cement at the sight of her. “You sent my brother-in-law to jail.”
She smoothes her hands down her slacks. “You saved me a trip. I was on my way to your address next.”
I glance at the principal, but he drops his gaze and stands. “I’ll give you two the office.”
He closes the door on his way out without ever looking at me, and I know it’s bad.
“Take a seat,” she says, gesturing to the chair she just vacated.
I drop into it, feeling as though gravity itself is trying to crush me.
She leans against the corner of the desk and fixes me in her gaze. “There’s a girl from your team who claims you coerced her into having sexual relations.”
My heart skids to a stop. “Who?” I ask, weakly.
“Corinne Pratt.”
When my jaw drops, her gaze becomes more focused, and I get the feeling she doesn’t miss much.
“I’d like to hear your side of the story, Marcus.”
“My side of the story is that her side of the story is bullshit,” I spit.
In the back of my mind, I know getting angry isn’t helping my cause, but all I can think of is that I’m sitting here being accused of touching a girl who propositioned me. And the one every instinct I have is telling me I need like oxygen, I’ve fought to stay away from.
But I haven’t been able to.
“I need a little more detail, Marcus.” She scrolls to something on her phone and reads. “Tell me about any interaction you had with Corinne Pratt on Friday evening after practice.”
I take a deep breath and hang my head. “She came up to me after practice and propositioned me. When I refused, she said she’d turn me in unless I took her home.”
“Turn you in? For what?”
I lift my head and look at her. There’s no point lying. I’m sure she already has Corinne’s pictures. “She had two pictures she was threatening to take to the principal.” I let out a bitter laugh. “Looks like she made good on that.”
She shakes her head. “She came into the police department yesterday.”
I blow out another breath. “Guess she decided to cut out the middle man.”
“What were these images of that she was allegedly threatening you with, Marcus?”
“One was of my truck parked in front of another teammate’s house, and the other was of me grabbing that same teammate’s arm.”
The way her head bobs slowly as I describe them, I know I’m right. She’s already seen them. I can only hope there aren’t others that are more compromising.