Fat Girls Are Not A Bet Chapter 10
The composed expression I’d been holding onto finally cracked a little.
This past year, I hadn’t just lost two hundred-plus pounds.
I’d lost countless meals I never got to finish.
Countless nights when I was too exhausted to stand.
I’d imagined meeting Ethan a hundred different ways.
Never once did I picture it ending like this.
“Your hand.”
Adrian’s voice broke through.
I looked over.
“What?”
His eyes were on my wrist.
Where Ethan had grabbed me was already ringed in red.
Adrian’s brow furrowed slightly.
“There’s a pharmacy nearby.”
“It’s fine, it’ll fade in a bit.”
I hid my hand behind my back.
He didn’t press. He just called the elevator.
The doors opened. A few young women were already inside.
When they saw Adrian, their eyes lit up.
But when their eyes drifted over to me, they went quiet at the same time.
One of them kept sneaking looks at us.
Not until we were outside the hotel did she whisper to her friend,
“They’ve got to be dating. That girl’s stunning, and the guy’s gorgeous too.”
I pretended not to hear.
Adrian didn’t react either.
But when we reached the entrance, I noticed his ears were red again.
The night wind blew through, and my head cleared some.
“Thanks. Back there.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Adrian paused, then suddenly asked,
“You really don’t remember me?”
I blinked.
“Have we met before?”
“In elementary school. We were classmates.”
He told me, back then he’d been a loner, and the boys in the class used to corner him in the stairwell to pick on him.
Once, I’d charged in and driven them off, then handed him one of my own Band-Aids.
Later I’d transferred schools and forgotten about it completely.
He’d remembered ever since.
“So you signed up for the game because you recognized me?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
Adrian looked at me. His ears got redder.
“I just wanted an excuse to see you again.”
“I didn’t think they’d blow it up like this.”
A taxi pulled up to the curb.
I started toward it—then Ethan’s voice came from the hotel entrance.
“Olivia!”
He was running after me, car keys in his hand.
“Let me drive you home.”
I ignored him and reached for the door.
Ethan darted ahead and blocked the car.
“Let’s talk.”
“I really didn’t know you’d been losing weight.”
He stared at my face, his tone softening.
“If I’d known you looked this beautiful now, none of what happened tonight would have happened.”
I went still.
There it was.
He didn’t regret hurting me.
He only regretted not seeing this face sooner.
I was about to speak when Adrian stepped up beside me.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Ethan sneered.
“And you’re the expert now?”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s hand came up to hold the top of the car door for me, motioning me in.
Then he lifted his eyes to Ethan.
“Because starting tonight, she’s my girlfriend.”