Chapter 23 I Loved You First

• Seeing the frown on my face, Silas stopped laughing. Concern clouded his eyes as he stepped closer to me. “What happened? Your principal called and said you left school. Dad asked me to come check up on you.”
• “Of course he did. I’m grateful.” Bill cared a lot—he was doing his best to be the ideal father, and I loved him for that. But what I needed right now was space. I needed time to think, to decide what to do with myself. I couldn’t do that with my stepbrother here. Silas was a goddamn distraction. Sometimes, I even forgot how to breathe when he was around. And the guilt I felt didn’t help. His words kept echoing in my head: Choose someone who loves you.
• I thought Carter had loved me. I truly believed it. But now, the truth was glaringly obvious. Maybe he’d been using me all along—to get back together with Emily. He must have known that seeing us together would make her jealous enough to want him back. I was just a pawn in their game. The realization made me sick with myself. How hadn’t I figured it out sooner?