Chapter Twenty Three

They could talk, he decided. Maybe that would stop the blood in his body from rushing south and giving him a full blown erection.

"Still a good dancer, I see?" he said to her.

Chloe lifted her head a little so she could stare at him. "I have never been a good dancer, " she replied, with a slight frown. "I dance... A little... I guess, but saying I'm good at it is just an exaggeration."

He didn't reply, instead he stared at her for some seconds and smiled. The corners of his eyes crinkled. Good grief, she thought, but Timothy Kavell was a gorgeous man. She tried not to inhale his scent, nor to warm herself in his heat or drink in the richness of his dark eyes. But it was so difficult, especially since she wanted to absorb his essence clear down to her bones.

"I have never known you to be modest, Chloe, " he said finally.

Chloe averted her eyes and focused her gaze on the couple behind him. "I wasn't being modest. I never was, but if you think I am now, well then you shouldn't be surprised.... Lots of things change... People too" she replied softly.

Timothy cocked his head to one side. She hadn't said much, but it had a feeling that when she said 'change', she was referring to more than just dancing. "And just how much have you changed, Chloe?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Chloe sighed deeply. She wanted to talk, but maybe there was no point in bringing up the past, especially when it would do absolutely nothing to change the present. For the longest time after they graduated, she had tried to talk to him, then hoped and prayed, hinted and whispered, while silently screaming for him to understand why she had to leave. To understand that it wasn't because she didn't care. To understand that she missed him and cared just as much as he did.

Timothy had refused to listen. He had cut her off. And concluded that her reasons were not enough.. Nothing she could say to him would ever be enough. It’d taken her far too long to accept that. Even longer to get over it. And yes, a part of her hated him for it.

She shouldn't bring it up, but he had... Kinda.... and since he had made it clear he was all about settling scores, judging by his actions at his parents house some days back, she decided to voice out thoughts. She had a few scores of her own to put to bed.

"I haven't changed that much, Tim, " she replied, her gaze still focused on the other couple because she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes. "At least not as much as you have"

Timothy deliberately didn't reply until she returned her gaze to his. "And just what do you think you know about me, Chloe Gilbert?" he asked.

‘Truth," Chloe blurted out.

He gave her a wry smile as he watched her, immediately realizing her intentions.

"What? Truth or dare? You really don't want to do this, Chloe. We're too old for that." he said with a grin. "And you have always been terrible at this game. You're supposed to give me two options, remember?"

She remembered. Truth or Dare had always been their game. She had loved it a little too much because it'd skated close to secret desires she had tried to suppress for a long time.

"What's the point when you always choose dare?" she retorted.

He shrugged and grinned at her. "Dares are way more exciting."

"Why? What's so wrong with choosing the truth every now and then?" Chloe asked.

He tensed ever so slightly. "Sadly, the truth means different things to different people."

"Not to me, and you know that."

He didn't answer.

Now it was her turn to get tense. "Don't you know that?" she asked him.

"Leave it."

"Leave what? I haven't even asked you anything yet."

"Exactly," he replied harshly and pulled her closer. "You haven't said anything and already you're getting bent out of shape. So let's drop whatever it is you think you want to know before things get more fucked, shall we?"

"More fucked? Oh so you know things are fucked? And here I was thinking I was overreacting or overthinking." she flashed back at him, a fierce resentment surging at his dismissive attitude.

Timothy grimaced and for some reason stared at her mouth for an eternity before his gaze swept away. She averted her gaze from the intensely raw penetration of his and writhed through the shame of blushing like a schoolgirl. His eyes narrowed, weighing the strength of her attack and whether it was worth his while to make any concession to it.

"Fine. So what do you want to know?" he demanded. "Go ahead and ask"

When she didn't say anything, he sighed. "You know the one thing I haven't missed about you? This dog-with-a-bone inability to let things be." he said.

Maybe he was right and she needed to let things go, Chloe thought. But she had let too many things go for far too long. Especially the one thing she had never thought would slip through her fingers-her friendship with Timothy.

She watched her best friend now. Correction, her ex-best friend, as he continued to hold her close and they moved slowly to the song playing. Outwardly, he appeared unaffected but she had this feeling that his still waters ran deep and dangerous. He was also uncomfortable about something and her instinct pushed her not to let go.

"Truth," she demanded for a second time.

'Fine," he griped, with less heat than a minute before.

"You are upset with me, right?"

He didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes"

Even he was surprised by his reply. Since her return he had told himself repeatedly that he didn't care. That it was a long time ago and that it would be crazy to care or still be upset, but apparently he was wrong. He did care.

Chloe's heart dropped to her heels. A large part of her had hoped he'd do the quintessential thing and reply that of course he wasn't mad at her. That she was being silly. That his attitude towards her had been nothing but her overactive imagination.

But they weren't. His stark words landed and burrowed deep, robbing her of breath until she tightened her gut against the acute loss.