Loving the Bully by Kelsie Fann

Author:Kelsie Fann [Fann, Kelsie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sweet Heart Books, LLC
Published: 2020-01-20T06:00:00+00:00

11

Hailey

“Trust me.”

She could still hear Rhett’s words clanging around in her mind.

Could she? Realizing that he had changed was one thing. Even forgiveness was another. But trust was a whole different ball game. Hailey took another bite of Shayla’s casserole, which was annoyingly good, and wondered if she could trust someone who had single-handedly destroyed her junior year of high school.

She watched as Mrs. Rhodes yawned when the game show was over. Standing, Hailey grabbed their three empty plates.

Hailey stacked the plates on top of each other in her hands. She was exhausted, and it was time to leave. “Long day. I’m going home. But thanks for the company.”

“Thank you, Hailey,” Rhett’s mother said.

Hailey smiled at Rhett’s mom. She was glad the woman had finally spoken. “Anytime Mrs. Rhodes. Maybe we can play UNO next time?”

She nodded.

“I’ll walk you out,” Rhett said.

Hailey could feel his hand graze the small of her back as he followed behind her. She could hardly breathe at his light touch.

“Let me take those.” He grabbed the dirty plates from her hands, and they paused by the door.

Letting her hands dangle by her sides, she forced herself to look in Rhett’s eyes, and not at his lips. “There’s nothing between you and Shayla?”

“I’ve talked to her twice since I got into town. Once at the engagement party and once tonight.”

Hailey studied Rhett’s clenched jaw and intense gaze, and that’s when she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt—at least until she saw something more definitive between them.

Until then, she would focus on her own life. She was twenty-six now, and spending time with Rhett made her realize that she wanted to be in a relationship. But she still felt stuck. She needed to know that the intensity she’d felt at the bonfire was just a figment of her imagination.

If she could kiss Rhett, she could forget about him once and for all. Looking up into Rhett’s eyes, even with the stack of dirty plates in his hands, she wondered if this was her moment.

They were still standing face to face by the door, so Hailey counted the seconds, hoping he would inch toward her, and make any movement to show that he would try to kiss her again. But he didn’t. He just shifted the dinner plates in his hands.

Ugh, plates! Hailey wanted to grab the dishes out of his hands, throw them in the kitchen sink, and put her lips on his for the last time. But she didn’t feel a single ounce of bravery. Maybe she was too tired.

“Okay,” she took a deep breath and turned toward the door.

As she put her hand on the doorknob, he finally spoke. “Wait, Hailey.”

She turned around slowly and took a deep breath. This was it. “Yes, Rhett?”

Despite the dirty dishes still in his hands, she closed her eyes slowly, waiting for a kiss that never came.

“Can you fix my hair tomorrow? I’ll come by the shop.”

Her eyes flew open. “Sure,” she mumbled as she quickly pushed through Mrs.

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