Detention with My Ex

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My brother got caught making out with a cheerleader on the bleachers. I never expected the guidance counselor handing him a detention to be my high school first lovemy ex-boyfriend.

Is spreading hormones around the school and causing trouble a genetic trait in your family?

Not at all. I just had a really excellent teacher.

The retort slipped out of my mouth instinctively, and a dead, suffocating silence instantly swallowed the office.

I froze, my nails digging hard into the palms of my hands.

Wait, let me explain!

Chapter 1

If I had known I'd run into Silas today, I absolutely wouldn't have stormed into the school office reeking of cheap tequila and a hangover, still wearing the ripped jeans from last night's bar crawl.

The most mortifying thing isn't running into your ex. It's running into your ex when he looks even cleaner and more devastatingly handsome than before, and youare a complete wreck.

"You're Wyatt's guardian?" Silas's voice was cold and detached. "I'm his guidance counselor. Silas."

Even though we broke up years ago, theres no way he doesn't recognize me, right?

Silas and I got together senior year. He was an Ivy League prep student on a full ride, and I was a cheerleader who only knew how to party. Back then, he dragged me into a state university through intense tutoring sessions shoved into storage closets and after-school detentions.

But the two colleges ended up being two states apart. Driving back and forth along the interstate took almost five hours. Add that to the fact that once he enrolled, he was constantly buried in lab research and academic decathlons, which left even less time for us.

We were at that reckless age. One argument, and the word "breakup" slipped out far too easily.

For the next few years, even though we ended up back in the same city, our paths never crossed. I never expected our reunion to look like this.

With my brother caught making trouble, I naturally lost the high ground in front of the school faculty. I forced a polite, respectful tone. "Hello, Mr. Silas. I'm Wyatt's older sister, Blair."

Growing up, my wild streak landed me in the principal's office plenty of times, but I had never felt this suffocated. Thinking about it, my urge to strangle my brother skyrocketed. If it weren't for him, would I be caught dead in this humiliation?! My parents were out of town on a business trip, otherwise I wouldn't be the one here losing face!

The cheerleader's parents were here too. It was me against two of them. I swallowed my pride and apologized profusely, and luckily, they were somewhat reasonable.

Silas tapped his long, slender fingers against the desk and slid a detention and disciplinary report forward. "This is a critical period for college applications. I don't care how raging their hormones are, but on my campus, I will not see this kind of stunt ruin their recommendation letters."

"I called you in today because I expect you to keep your kids in line. At least tell them to keep it in their pants until prom."

I stared at the disciplinary slip and muttered under my breath. "No wonder that punk has been sneaking out of his bedroom window in the middle of the night recently Really taking after my glory days"

Silas paused. He finally lifted his eyes and locked his gaze on me. "Is spreading hormones around the school and causing trouble a genetic trait in your family?"

What?

That comment rubbed me entirely the wrong way. Meeting his dark, icy stare, my mind went blank, and I fired back purely on reflex. "Not at all. I just had a really excellent teacher."

Dead silence.

The air in the office froze solid. The cheerleader's parents and a few other teachers stared at me like I had grown a second head, their jaws practically hitting the floor.

Then, my own words finally caught up to my brain. Oh my god!

"M-Mr. Silas, that's not what I meant. Don't take that the wrong way!"

Right at that moment, the cheerleader's parents' phone rang. They took the excuse and practically bolted from the room.

Now, it was just Silas and me left. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. I grabbed my bag, fully intending to escape too.

Silas pushed back his chair and walked me to the door.

Every single step felt like walking on broken glass.

We stepped out into the hallway. Just as I thought I was finally off the hook, Silass cool voice sliced through the air. "Back when you cornered me in the locker room and forced a kiss on me, you weren't nearly this polite."

Me, the one who relentlessly hunted him down back in high school:

Chapter 2

Back in high school, Silas was the guy every girl secretly drooled over. I was different. I made it my public mission to get him.

The entire school knew exactly how obsessed I was with him, and everyone knew he was notoriously impossible to pin down. So when we actually got together, jaws hit the floor.

The way he looked right nowso detached and indifferentwas an exact replay of the first time I confessed to him.

A spark of irritation flared in my chest. My filter snapped.

"Mr. Silas, lets get one thing straight. I might have hunted you down back then, but I was the one who dumped you."

The second the words left my mouth, all the blood drained from my face.

He wasn't my boyfriend anymore; he was the guy holding my brother's college application in his hands! What kind of suicidal impulse possessed me to say that out loud?!

Thank god my useless brother finally picked that exact moment to materialize and pull me out of the fire.

"Blair?" Turns out the idiot had been hovering outside the office the entire time.

I snatched the opportunity. "You don't need to walk me out, Mr. Silas. I just need a quick word with Wyatt before I go. My friend is waiting for me in the parking lot."

Without even daring to glance at his face to see his reaction, I grabbed Wyatt by his hoodie strings and dragged him around the corner into the hallway.

He gave me a weird look. "Why are you acting so freaked out?"

I bristled like a cat backed into a corner. "Who's freaked out?!"

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "I've known you for seventeen years. You think I can't read you?" He glanced back over his shoulder. "Our guidance counselor isn't that terrifying, is he?"

"Wyatt, you're the one getting suspended for screwing around on campus. You aren't even a little bit remorseful, and you're giving me attitude?"

Wyatt scoffed. "But Blair, back when you dumped the school's star quarterback, I didn't see an ounce of guilt from you either."

Thanks. My chest physically tightened like I was having a minor heart attack. I stared at him deadpan.

"Well, karma just walked through the door. Your guidance counselor? Hes the ex-boyfriend."

Wyatt: ???

His face morphed from pure shock into absolute agony. "I am so dead! You had your fun, but you literally just threw my entire academic future under the bus!"

You weren't even this scared when you got busted making out on the bleachers. Besides, how the hell was I supposed to know Silas would end up as my brother's guidance counselor?

We walked out to the parking lot, and I instantly slumped into the passenger seat of a parked sports car.

My best friend, Cassidy, glanced over at me from the driver's seat. "Ouch. Did the guidance counselor tear you a new one?"

We both had the day off, so we hit up a brunch spot to nurse my hangover. The second we finished, she drove me straight to the school.

I let my head fall back against the headrest, drained of life. "No. It was ten thousand times worse. His guidance counselor is Silas."

Cassidy let out a casual "Oh." Three seconds later, she let out an ear-piercing shriek. "Holy shit?!"

I slapped my hands over my ears, but she aggressively pried them away. "Silas? The Silas?! Your high school ex?!"

I let out a pathetic, muffled groan of confirmation.

Cassidy slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, he is so screwed. Wyatt is totally dead."

"His sister dumped his guidance counselor. How is he going to survive senior year?"

I leveled a glare at her. "Does literally no one care that my life is flashing before my eyes right now?"

"Are you kidding me?" Cassidy rolled her eyes hard. "You bagged the most untouchable, god-tier guy in school, and then you dumped him. Who had a better power trip than you?"

Okay, as much as I hated to admit it Silas's face, those broad shoulders, that insane jawline he definitely lived up to the hype.

"That was years ago. Drop it."

Chapter 3

Seeing how utterly drained I looked, Cassidy swallowed her urge to gossip and smoothly changed the subject. "By the way, Penelope and Travis are getting married this Saturday. Are you going?"

Both of them were our high school classmates. More importantly, Travis was tight with Silas back in the day, so there was a high chance Silas would be invited too.

"Do you want me to tell them you can't make it?"

Silas's detached, emotionless face from the office flashed in my mind. A sudden surge of defiance kicked up in my chest, making my pulse hammer against my ribs.

"We're adults. What's the point of dragging up ancient history? Besides, he's my brother's guidance counselor now."

"It's not like I can hide from him forever." I clenched my jaw. "I'm going."

On Saturday, I slipped into a cocktail dress, did a full face of makeup, and headed to the country club for the wedding reception. The bride and groom were standing at the entrance greeting guests. I handed Penelope a sleek wedding card with a check inside and smiled warmly.

"Congratulations, you guys!"

Penelope glanced over my shoulder, her eyes lighting up. "Blair, did you and Silas come together?"

What?

I spun around. Silas was walking up the carpeted steps, only a few paces behind me. He wore a crisp white dress shirt and tailored black trousers.

Clean, simple, and devastatingly sharp. Some people just naturally command the spotlight without even trying.

Silas was exactly that kind of person.

He must have heard her. He lifted his gaze. Dark hair, dark eyes, radiating an untouchable, fiercely controlled aura. Our eyes locked before I whipped back around.

"No," I blurted out, my neck burning.

Penelope blinked in surprise. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Travis subtly tugged on her arm.

He threw on a wide grin and stepped forward to greet Silas. "Silas, man! Glad you could make it!"

I practically sprinted past them into the ballroom. It didn't take long to spot Cassidy, who had arrived early, waving frantically from across the room. "Blair! Over here!"

I hurried over, thinking I was finally safe in the crowd. Then my eyes landed on the gold-lettered place card in the center of the table: High School Alumni.

My stomach dropped. I looked around the circular table. Sure enough, every single chair was filled with a familiar face.

And then, Silas walked over.

There were exactly two empty seats left. One directly to my left, and one straight across from me.

"Silas! Over here!" A guy who used to hang out with him stood up and flagged him down.

Word of what happened at the entrance must have already spread, or maybe anyone with functioning eyes could just feel the freezing tension. It was painfully obvious we were exes.

The sound of his dress shoes approached against the hardwood floor. I glued my eyes to the rim of my champagne flute, my grip tightening until my knuckles turned white.

Then, he walked up behind my chair, bypassed the empty seat next to meand pulled out the chair directly across the table.

The table went silent.

Thankfully, the guy who called him over knew how to read a room, and the chatter quickly picked back up.

"I heard Silas isn't just a senior guidance counselor now, but he's also running the Ivy League prep program? You can't even get your foot in the door at a private academy like that without some serious connections!"

"What did you expect? The guys brilliant. Top-tier talent rises to the top wherever they go!"

"Man, I still can't believe Travis and Penelope are the first ones from our class to tie the knot. I always thought it was going to be Sila" The guy talking suddenly realized he was stepping on a landmine and slammed his mouth shut.

Half a dozen pairs of eyes started darting back and forth between me and Silas. Back when Silas and I were together, it was a spectacular, chaotic inferno. The entire school knew. No one ever expected us to crash and burn like this.

I instinctively flicked my gaze upward. The man sitting across from me had his eyes slightly lowered, casually pouring himself a glass of ice water. The sharp, perfect line from his brow bone down to his jaw was relaxed. He looked unbothered, as if the awkwardness swirling around the table had nothing to do with him.

Chapter 4

The air in the room was stifling. I used the restroom as an excuse to escape.

My phone buzzed with an iMessage from Cassidy:

[ Be honest. You dumped a guy of that caliber, and you don't regret it? Why don't you just win him back? ]

Low whispers drifted in from outside the stall.

"I still can't believe Silas and Blair actually broke up. Remember how hard she threw herself at him?"

"So what? A guy like Silas can have anyone he wants. They were never in the same league anyway."

"Exactly. Plus, I doubt Silas ever really liked her. He probably just caved because she wouldn't leave him alone, and then dumped her the second he got tired of it."

Turns out, adults really love dragging up high school drama. Even though I was the one who dumped Silas, the rest of their gossip was pretty spot on.

I typed out a reply to Cassidy, fully leaning into my own ego.

[ Lets get one thing straight. I dumped him first. Now, even if he begged on his knees in front of my sports car, Id still have to see if Im in the mood. ]

[ Lol. ]

[ Ambitious. Tragic. Delusional. ]

I waited until the gossiping trio finally left the restroom before I pushed open the stall door and took my time walking out. By the time I returned to the table, a few people were a couple of drinks deep, and the conversation was loud.

I sat down and reached for my fork, but Cassidy pinched my thigh under the table. "Why did you block me?!"

I shot her a look. Take a wild guess.

"Hey, Blair!" Someone called my name. I looked up. It was Tiffany, one of the three girls talking trash about me in the restroom.

We had bad blood back in high school. If it weren't for this wedding, we wouldn't be caught dead sitting at the same table. She used to have a massive crush on Silas. When she found out we were dating, she went out of her way to make my life miserable every chance she got.

She put on a sickly sweet smile. "Is it okay if I ask are you single right now?"

The table went quiet. You already asked the question, so why bother with the fake politeness?

She kept going. "I have a few single guy friends. I was thinking of setting you up."

I gave her a razor-sharp smile. "Thanks, but no thanks. My standards are pretty high."

The table dropped into an even deeper silence. The fake smile on her face almost cracked. But with Silas sitting right there as living proof of my standards, she couldn't even argue.

After a few seconds of glaring, she rolled her eyes. "True. But wait does that mean you haven't dated anyone at all these past few years?"

What was that supposed to mean? That I couldn't find anyone better than Silas? Or that, like she said in the bathroom, only a guy as blind as Silas would ever settle for me?

"I've done alright. Dated two or three guys," I said flatly.

One was right after Silas and I broke up. I acted on impulse and agreed to go out with a star athlete from a frat on campus. But on the third day, at a frat party, he tried to grab my waist. It disgusted me so much I dumped him on the spot.

Another was a blind date forced on me by a relative after graduation. That one didn't even last three days. During our second dinner, he wouldn't shut up about me moving to the suburbs, pumping out a bunch of kids for him, and becoming a traditional housewife.

I threw my drink in his face right then and there.

Technically speaking, saying I dated two or three guys wasn't exactly a lie. At that moment, the expressions around the table were absolutely priceless.

I broke the silence, my voice dripping with casual sass. "Hey, you have to test drive a few to know what really fits, right?"

At the sound of my voice, Silas slowly lifted his gaze and stared at me in dead silence.

Fed up with the tension, I decided to go on the offensive. I locked eyes with him.

"Don't you agree, Mr. Silas?"

Chapter 5

Tiffany looked like her face was about to shatter. "Why are you calling Silas 'Mr.'?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention? Mr. Silas is Wyatt's guidance counselor now. We just caught up a few days ago."

Listen to that! That is how a perfectly well-adjusted ex behaves. Making absolute peace with the past! That is

"I wouldn't know." Silas set his water glass down. His long, pale fingers tapped the rim.

His voice was utterly freezing. "I've only ever dated one."

The oxygen vanished from the room.

I was convinced Silas was intentionally throwing me under the bus, painting me as the heartless villain of the table. But at the exact same time, a treacherous, frantic hammering kicked up against my ribs.

How many years had it been? A guy like Silas could snap his fingers and have a different girl every night of the week. But he actually just sat there and said he had only ever dated one.

Right as my brain started spiraling into a total meltdown, Travis and Penelope walked over with champagne for the toast, and the suffocating topic was finally buried.

As the reception started clearing out, the crowd shuffled toward the exit. I caught sight of Tiffany practically gluing herself to Silass side. Her voice dripped with sickening sweetness.

"Silas, my nephew is applying for the Ivy prep program soon, and I was really hoping you could write him a recommendation letter. Would you mind giving me your Snapchat? Just so I can ask you a few questions later?"

A complete 180 from the venom she was spitting in the restroom. Did she really think no one could see right through that pathetic excuse to get his contact info?

I sped up my pace, unwilling to stick around and hear his answer. But his freezing voice carried clearly through the lobby anyway.

"I strictly handle the senior graduating class. I don't write recommendation letters for underclassmen. If you have questions about the process, call the school's admissions office."

Tiffany physically recoiled, her smile freezing in pure humiliation. "Oh. R-Right. Okay."

"Gotta admit, Silas still has that ridiculous pull," Cassidy clicked her tongue as we walked outside. "But man, his rejection skills are razor-sharp."

"You walked away too fast. You completely missed the look on Tiffany's face! She looked like she swallowed a lemon!"

I dug through my purse for my keys. "Obviously. If he didn't know how to shut girls down, his phone would have exploded by now."

Back when I was hunting down his Instagram handle, I literally shoved an iced Americano into his locker every single morning for a straight week! My allowance was pathetic back then, so I basically starved myself for seven days to afford it. I seriously have no idea where I got the absolute audacity and relentless willpower to hunt him down like that.

"Fair point. And hey, didn't you hear the guy? He's only ever dated one person all these years." Cassidy shot me a massive thumbs-up, looking at me like I was a hero.

"Blair, you absolute legend. I honestly thought you were totally delusional in the bathroom when you said youd make him crawl back, but now? I actually think you could pull it off!"

"My car's over here." I hit the unlock button on my fob, tossing out a casual reply over my shoulder. "Yeah, well, Im not exactly easy to catch either. If he wants me"

The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. I froze mid-step. I slowly, painfully turned my head toward the black SUV parked directly next to my car.

The tinted window was rolled halfway down. The man sitting in the driver's seat had a flawlessly sharp jawline. He had just pulled his phone away from his ear. Hearing my voice, he slowly turned his head to look at me.

Silas.

My soul left my body.

He casually rested his arm against the open window. His dark eyes locked onto mine, and his voice was deadpan. "I want you?"

I physically rebooted from pure panic.

"No! Absolutely not! That is not what I meant at all, don't twist my words!"

"I just meant that I'm actually really easy to catchWait, no! I meant if you tried, it wouldn't be that hardDammit, no!"

Staring directly into his unbothered, pitch-black eyes, I just wanted to drag my fingernails down the concrete wall and bury myself alive.

Chapter 6

Right on cue, Cassidy walked over. She hadn't heard our entire exchange, but seeing Silas standing there froze her in her tracks.

I shot her a frantic look, widening my eyes. Get me out of here! Now!

Cassidys eyes darted between Silas and me. A spark of realization lit up her face, and she immediately started backing away. "Oh, shoot! I just remembered I have a massive emergency at work. I gotta run! Blair, your car broke down, right? Why don't you have Silas give you a ride home?"

What?!

I am going to kill her.

Unfortunately, Cassidy ignored my murderous glare. She spun around and bolted to her car before I could say a single word.

I sucked in a sharp breath, gritted my teeth, and yanked my car door open.

"Didn't your car break down?" Silas's voice was deadpan.

Biting the bullet, I slid into the driver's seat and gave the steering wheel a fake, assessing pat. "Looks like it miraculously fixed itself."

"Are you sure?" Silas asked.

Of course I'm sure! I literally just picked it up from the mechanic a few days ago! Why else would Cassidy have driven me to the high school the other day?

"Yep. Runs perfectly," I said. I slammed the seatbelt buckle into place, fully prepared to hit the gas and vanish into thin air.

Then

Silas stepped out of his SUV, walked over to my side, and tapped his knuckles against my window. "Then do me a favor and give me a ride. My car broke down."

I was ninety-nine percent sure he was messing with me. I opened my mouth to shoot him down, but he smoothly cut me off.

"The roadside assistance guy is here."

His car actually broke down? So he was on the phone with his insurance earlier?

Refusing him now seemed a little too heartless. But given our history, dragging out this interaction felt even more dangerous.

I waited in my car while Silas talked to the tow truck driver. Just as he finished, his phone buzzed again.

He held it to his ear, his dark brows pulling into a tight frown. "Understood. We're on our way."

He walked back to my passenger side. I opened my mouth, fully intending to tell him to call an Uber, but his tone left absolutely no room for argument. "It's a thirty-minute drive to the downtown ER. We need to hurry."

What? My mind blanked. "The ER? Why?"

Silas locked his eyes on mine. "Wyatt had sudden, severe stomach pains during class. The school nurse suspects it's acute appendicitis, and they've already called an ambulance to rush him to the ER."

My stomach dropped. Cold sweat broke out across my palms.

The drive was a blur of screeching tires and a suffocating silence. By the time we slammed through the sliding doors of the hospital, Wyatt had already been wheeled into the operating room.

The middle-aged man pacing the waiting room was the school nurse, and the young woman standing next to him looked like one of Wyatt's teachers. Seeing Silas and me rushing in together, confusion splashed across both of their faces.

The female teacher quickly scanned me up and down before lowering her voice. "Mr. Silas who is this?"

"This is Wyatt's older sister." Silas kept it brutally brief, offering absolutely zero explanation as to why we were together. "What's Wyatt's status?"

"He was in the middle of AP Calculus when the pain hit," she explained rapidly. "The nurse said it was critical, so we got him here immediately. He's been in surgery for a while now. They should be wrapping up soon."

Silas gave a curt nod. He must have noticed the uncontrollable trembling in my hands because he lowered his gaze to me. "Sit down and catch your breath."

I aggressively shook my head, my feet glued to the linoleum floor. "I'm not moving until I see him."

Silas paused. When he spoke again, his icy tone had dropped an octave, carrying a strange, heavy weight that forcefully anchored my spiraling panic.

"Breathe. An appendectomy is a minor procedure. He's going to be fine."

Both the teacher and the nurse instantly looked taken aback. The female teacher, in particular, let her eyes linger on me for a few extra seconds, clearly catching the sudden shift in his tone.

I didn't give a damn about their staring. My vision was tunneled purely on those closed operating room doors, my pulse hammering wildly against my ribs like I was burning alive.

Chapter 7

I must have been rushing too hard. Despite the freezing weather, my skin was slick with sweat. Now that I was finally standing still, the icy draft cutting through the hospital corridor hit me, and an uncontrollable shiver wracked my body.

Right at that moment, a heavy weight settled over my shoulders. A rush of warmth enveloped me, carrying that excruciatingly familiar scent mixed with a faint trace of alcohol.

Silas hadn't been drinking, and neither had I. The scent clinging to the fabric of his suit jacket was just the lingering ghost of champagne from the wedding reception, but the heat radiating from it felt scorching. Like a single spark hitting dry brush, it instantly set my nerve endings on fire.

I snapped my head to the side, my eyes colliding straight with his pitch-black gaze.

"Your parents are out of state," he said, his voice a low, steady hum. "If you catch a cold too, no one's going to look after him."

The reality check hit like a bucket of ice water. "Thanks," I muttered under my breath.

An hour later, Wyatts surgery wrapped up flawlessly, and they wheeled him into a recovery room. I handled the hospital admission paperwork at the front desk and called our parents, talking them off a ledge and assuring them that he just needed a few days of bed rest.

By the time I finished dealing with the chaos and walked back into the room, Silas was standing by the edge of the hospital bed, talking to Wyatt.

"Just focus on resting up for now. Don't stress about missing lectures. I'll email you the class notes and study guides."

Every second of senior year prep was a ticking clock. Watching the two of them, a sudden wave of deja vu hit me so hard my vision blurred for a second. The way he looked right nowit was a carbon copy of how he used to force me to study. But there was a glaring difference. With Wyatt, he was actually being patient.

Back in the day, when my brain was completely fried and all I wanted was to go to a party, I had to relentlessly harass Silas before he'd even give me the time of day. Having to grind through ten full AP Physics practice exams just to earn the right to straddle his lap and kiss him literally, thanks for nothing. Just thinking about it made my teeth grind together.

Finishing his lecture, Silas straightened up. "Get some rest."

He gave us the room, walking out and pulling the door shut behind him. But my brother had absolutely zero tact. The second the door clicked shut, his eyes locked onto me like a heat-seeking missile. The interrogation started instantly.

"Spill. Why did you walk in here with my guidance counselor?"

I stared at him, my expression deadpan. "Wyatt, did the anesthesia wipe your memory, or did you forget I am your actual blood sister?"

Wyatt was still deathly pale from the surgery, but that clearly didn't dent his fighting spirit. "I didn't forget. And I definitely didn't forget that you dated him in high school and then savagely dumped him."

They literally just sliced an organ out of his body, and he still had the energy to run his mouth. Clearly, he was perfectly fine.

"Wyatt, you'd better start showing your loving sister a little more respect, or your recovery in this hospital bed is going to be a living hell." I grabbed my purse and turned toward the door.

"Hey! Blair, wait!" Wyatt called out.

I stopped and glanced back over my shoulder. "What?"

Wyatt suddenly let out an awkward cough, flashing me a desperate, groveling smile. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"When you go back to campus to grab my textbooks could you maybe tell Summer that I'm totally fine and I'll be back soon?"

Summer. The cheerleader he had been caught fooling around with. I had seen her polaroid tucked into the front pocket of his backpack before.

I rolled my eyes so hard it physically hurt. "Why are you so high maintenance?"

Wyatt didn't even flinch. "I just don't want her stressing out over me."

That actually caught me off guard.

"Fine. Got it."

"You're the best!" Wyatt grinned, before his face suddenly dropped into a look of sheer panic. He quickly tacked on, "But wait Blair, you and Mr. Silas there's absolutely zero chance of you guys getting back together, right?"

Chapter 8

I shot him a death glare.

Wyatt fell silent for a second. "I mean, hes got a massive line of girls obsessed with him. Half the school is practically throwing themselves at him"

"But hey, if you really want to get back together with him, I won't stop you. You just have to promise me one thing: absolutely no breaking up until my college acceptance letters are in!"

I kept my voice deadpan. "Wyatt, you should be thanking God you went into surgery today. Losing that appendix is the only thing keeping me from snapping your neck."

Today had been an absolute roller coaster.

I stepped out of the hospital room to get some fresh air. If I stayed in there any longer, this highly eventful life was going to give me a stroke.

I walked into the dimly lit hospital stairwell. Exhaling a long, heavy breath, I aggressively rubbed my stinging, exhausted eyes.

Then, the sound of leather dress shoes clicking against the concrete echoed up the steps. I froze. Silas was actually standing right there in the shadows.

He was smoking.

The cherry-red ember of the cigarette glowed faintly in the dark space. He leaned casually against the wall, isolated in his own freezing aura.

Hearing the door shut, he turned his head.

The man whose collar was always buttoned up tight to his throat exhaled a ring of smoke into the dim stairwell. His gaze pierced through the hazy cloud, sweeping over me with a heavy, predatory intensity, as if he were assessing his prey. Then, he crushed the cigarette under his dress shoe.

I had caught him smoking on the school roof once back in the day. Even then, he had kept that exact same detached, icy expression, looking as if he didn't give a damn whether I reported him to the principal or not.

I had asked him, Is smoking actually fun? He didn't answer. He just turned around and walked away.

After we finally started dating, I brought it up again one day, genuinely curious to try a drag. He immediately shut me down. But after that, I never saw him touch a cigarette again.

I never expected to catch him smoking now. Then again, it had been years since we broke up.

I opened my mouth, intending to ask him when would be a good time to swing by campus and clear out Wyatt's locker. But suddenly, he pushed off the concrete wall and closed the distance between us.

"Blair."

He called my first name in a low, gravelly whisper. It was the first time since our disastrous reunion that he hadn't used my full name or addressed me with cold formality.

"Why are you crying