Whendhie

"I really don't want your apology, Tim," Chloe said. "I would prefer you didn’t treat me like some unwanted stranger you can’t wait to be rid of." There was a throb of irritation in her voice.

"I don't treat you like a stranger. Things are just different now." Timothy replied.

"Oh please" replied Chloe. "All you did in there was frown whenever my name was mentioned. And let's not even talk about the cold manner in which you have spoken to me since I arrived. You look like this is the last place you want to be just because I'm here. Am I really that vile?" 

Timothy said nothing. Instead he gritted his teeth and shoved his hands into his pocket.

Even in her anger, Chloe noticed him... Every inch of him... And his smell. She could pick out his unique scent. Rough. Masculine and mouthwateringly sexy. It made no sense to her, but she was attuned to his every nuance. 

The man she had called her best friend until a dizzying series of events dissolved the title like sugar in hot water stared at her dispassionately. It was a good thing they were outside and she hoped that he couldn't see the hurt and disappointment on her face. The look wasn't just in his eyes. It seeped through every shrug, every curl of lips she had once thought were the most perfectly created set of lips on earth.

She looked deeper, pathetically desperate to find something else. Something more. A reminder of those times when they would talk to each other for hours, and resume conversations the moment they saw one another again.

But clearly the Tim she knew had been replaced by a harder, edgier version of a Timothy Kavell - Packard. He was hard and edgy and cynical to start off with. If she had known that he hated her this much, she wouldn't have agreed to his parents' offer to have dinner with them. 

She had agreed because a stupid part of her had hoped that somehow, they would fix things and be friends again... And she was just beginning to see how wrong she had been....

PLAY WITH ME

"No, Chloe, don't do that. Don't put words in my mouth. I won't let you. You know I'd have no problem calling you gullible if I thought you were" 


"Well, I don't forgive you, then. My generosity doesn't stretch to making allowances for you being selfish and then blaming me for it" 


"Look at you.... Playing the victim... As if you didn't do exactly the same thing. When you decided to leave, were you thinking about me or just yourself? You have no right to call me selfish" 


His sneer cut her sharp and deep. And yet she couldn't scream the answer that should've come readily to her. Because she knew that he was right. 


The reminder both hurt and angered her now. And justified or not, some part of her held Timothy responsible for it. He'd been her crutch until she'd needed him most. 


Chapter Twenty Four