Page 95 of False Comeback

Vince swallowed, flicking him a glance as if he’d just remembered he was in the room with us. Then he looked back at me and parted his lips.

“I’m sorry too,” he said huskily. “For being such a dick to you all these years. I’m—I was wrong too. At court. What I said. I was the one who started it.”

“And why do you think that is?” Corey asked, nodding encouragingly.

Vince cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable as he broke eye contact and stared down at his fingers picking at the armrest.

“He… I don’t know. He intimidated me, I guess,” he admitted in a mutter, slouching lower on the couch. “I’m not used to being around people like him.”

“What do you mean by that?” Corey asked thoughtfully.

Vince huffed and scrubbed his face. “Rich folk.”

“I’m not rich,” I said with a frown. “My mother is. I’m not.”

“Oh.” He hunched up a little. “I just… assumed she—”

“She doesn’t support me.” My voice grew tight. “Or what I do.”

“Oh,” he repeated, then mumbled, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I gave him a brief smile when he glanced at me.

“And why do you think you made those assumptions about Crossbody, Vince?” Corey asked with a slow nod, writing something in his notebook.

Vince huffed without any heat. “Because he’s freaking royalty. You come from… a different world to me,” he said to me directly, flushing. “I don’t mean Otherworld. I don’t mean literally—”

“I understand what you mean,” I said quietly.

“And I know that’s not, like, your fault. You couldn’t control that. But it still just… makes me feel weird.”

“I understand,” I repeated, trying not to let the despondence sinking into my gut show.

We were too different. I was different from everyone here, because of my background and the social standing I didn’t even want. I was the anomaly. The outsider.

“And how does that make you feel, Crossbody?” Corey asked, posing with his head cocked and glasses to his lips again.

I exhaled a slow breath, rubbing my hands over my thighs. “I’ve spent the last six years trying to build a life for myself here, but I still feel like I don’t really… belong.”

I couldn’t quite believe I’d just admitted that. In front of Vince.

“And have Vince’s actions contributed to you feeling that way?” Corey asked, then raised a brow at Vince when he cringed and looked down. “We have to lance a few wounds to heal them, Vince. I never said this was going to be easy. But I’m here to guide you through it.”

I shifted uncomfortably. “It… They didn’t help.”

“I’m sorry,” Vince croaked.

“It’s alright.” I smiled over at him, but he didn’t smile back.

“No. It’s not. I’m sorry, Crossbody.”

I nodded quickly, not liking the way my eyes were prickling. “I’m sorry too. I… I played stupid mind games with you, trying to get under your skin and irritate you because I… well, I don’t really know why. I just did. I’m sorry.”

Corey exhaled a slow breath and sat back, crossing his legs. “That was a real moment, you two.”

We both stayed silent. I was a little trembly with adrenaline, and Vince was tense and fidgety at the other end of the couch.

All I wanted to do was pull him on top of me. Crush my mouth to his. Feel his body against mine.