Deep (Heavy Hearts Book 2) by Sarah Duncan (reading tree txt) 📕

I roll my eyes at him, and his blue eyes practically glow as he glares at me in a silent challenge. I give in.

Taking my phone out, I read his message.

Ayden Mitchell

Talk to me, Lex.

Lexi West

<< middle finger emoji >>

This time Ayden rolls his eyes at me and starts to type out his response on his phone. I take another drag of the joint before handing it back to Dale, who gives me a wink before walking off, leaving me alone with Ayden.

Shit! I should call him back over.

My phone vibrates again, and I sigh before opening the message. It’s a long one. Part of me doesn’t want to read it because I’m a stubborn bitch, and I don’t really know if I can handle knowing what he wants to say. The other part of me is practically frothing at the mouth to know, and that’s the part of me that wins.

Ayden Mitchell

Since you won’t talk to me, then I’ll talk. I need to tell you how sorry I am for so many things. Mostly though, I need you to know how incredibly sorry I am for the way I treated you before you left. I’m not trying to make excuses, but please believe me when I tell you, that person who was in that bedroom in Melbourne was not me! He was a different version and someone I have worked so hard to be rid of. I am not him, and yet I am. That is the war I battle every day to beat the urges to turn to drugs and throw away my life again.

The me you spent time with before we ran into Muz, that’s the real me. Our time together was the most real thing I have ever experienced with another person Lexi. It’s you, Lexi. You make me real. You make me want to be a better person.

Can you please find it in your heart to forgive me? I will spend every minute of every day, making it up to you. I swear!

Tears fall freely and blur my vision as I read his honest words. When he sees I’m done reading, he squats down in front of me, trying to catch my eyes. I slide my phone into my blazer pocket and wipe away my tears, keeping my eyes cast to the ground. Reaching out, Ayden places his hand on my knee, and I almost moan. It feels so good to have him touch me, and I just want to leap into his arms and fall into a world that is just him and me again.

But my world isn’t just the two of us. My world is all kinds of fucked up, and he is too good of a person to be dragged into it.

“I’m sorry,” I say before standing quickly and hightailing it away from every single one of my friends. I consider going to hide out in the girl’s toilets, but instead, I find myself knocking on the school counsellor’s door.

When Mr Matthews opens it, his brows shoot up, surprised to see me. When he holds the door open for me, I make my way in and sit on my usual chair. I tug out the earphones and wait while he sits. When he’s settled, I can tell by his expression that he’s concerned.

“Is everything okay, Lexi?”

And then I cry. It’s all I can do. He tries to ask me questions and help me stop crying, but I can’t. He’s quiet for a few minutes before handing me the box of tissues, which I snatch up and make good use of.

“Lexi, are you here because you need to talk?”

I shake my head.

“Are you here because you need a safe place to take a few moments?”

I nod, and he nods back.

“Okay, that is totally okay. Do you want me to leave?” I consider his words for a moment before shaking my head. “Okay. Want to watch some funny cat videos?”

A snotty laugh rips from me, and Mr Matthews grins and sets up his laptop. I spend the rest of recess and all of period three in his office watching the most stupid, yet funny, cat videos. Mr Matthews is definitely one of the good ones. Although he continues to look concerned, he doesn’t pressure me to talk. He just lets me be there in the moment, feeling safe.

I manage to pull myself together in time for Maths, and even though I know Ayden is in that class, I somehow will myself to walk in and ignore him through the whole lesson. I even finish two of my overdue Maths tasks and submit them, which makes me a little happy.

By the time lunch comes, I drag myself through the yard to the back of the school, going over my apology in my head to Rhys and the others for the intrusion at recess. I know it was hard enough for them to feel okay with me invading their sacred space, but to have six of the schools most popular guys invade it too, is going over the line.

They all watch me approach with neutral expressions, and I dig deep, summoning up the courage to speak. I hope they want me to continue being their friend.

Stopping in front of them, I pull out my earphones. Here goes nothing.

“Ah, sorry about earlier, guys. It won’t happen again.”

They all stare at me with straight faces for a beat before bursting out in fits of laughter. Frowning, I watch Rhys leap down from the steps and skip up to me.

“What’s so fucking funny?”

“You are!” Rhys cackles, “Turn around.” Grabbing my shoulders, she spins me, and I come face to face with my smirking pack.

“Seriously? Again?” I hiss at them, and I swear their grins grow wider. Arseholes!

“Your pack follows you everywhere, Lexi. Maybe instead of fighting it, you should embrace it!” Rhys whispers into my ear.

“Not likely,” I growl, unable to contain my frustration and Rhys sighs.

“Here’s the deal, dickheads. You can stay as long as you abide by