Page 11 of Blitz

She lets out a sigh of—relief? I don’t know why she’s relieved.

“Good. I’m glad.”

“You’re glad that my friend has a girlfriend?”

“I’m glad that you don’t.” Her chin tips up. “I was hoping that we could... I don’t know.”

“There is no we. There is no us.”

She takes a step towards me. “But there could be.”

I move back. “No, there can’t.”

“You really hate me that much?”

“I don’t feel anything for you, Princess.”

Shit. There I go, calling her by her pet name. The name that was only mine to bestow upon her. Her last name is Prince. My last name is Kingsley. Together we’re a King and a Princess. She should be a Queen—she was always the one ruling my heart. A match made in heaven.

Or in hell.

Her eyes light up at my slip up. “King...”

“I think we’re done talking,” I tell her.

“I miss you,” she blurts.

“I don’t care.”

Lies. I care a whole hell of a lot.

But I can’t open myself up to her again. I can’t allow her to hurt me again. I might not survive it this time.

Her face falls. “So we can’t...”

“There is no we,” I repeat.

“I thought maybe we could be friends.”

“We’ve never been friends, Mason.”

Damn, even her name on my lips feels good. A warm glow spreads through me, warming my insides despite the brutal cold we’re standing in.

“Maybe we should be.” She takes another step towards me, her stride purposeful. I’m pushed back against the handrail. I have nowhere to go. “I’ve been here since August. I could use a friend.”

“You don’t want to be my friend.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” she says. “I’ll take what I can get. We have a history, Tuck. I can’t erase that. But we can start over. Two kids from DC all alone in the big city.”

“Newton is hardly—”

“We grew up together,” she reminds me, as if I’m not well aware. “I know you, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

I don’t.

“We’re working together. We have a class together. It would be nice if we could get along with a cessation of hostilities.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”