The Prince and the Bookworm

Chapter 44

I liked to pride myself on being a person who didn't freeze very often. In my nearly 17 years of life, I had gotten myself into some pretty interesting situations. Almost every single time, I had gotten myself out of said situation with ease and sarcasm. I never froze and I was certainly never speechless. 

But in that moment, when Dallas fixed me with a look of confusion, expectation, and even a little disappointment, I fell completely silent. I didn't say a word or move an inch. I just stared back at him, hoping that he would somehow read my mind. 

"What's going on?" Dallas repeated with a forced patience. Despite the controlled tone of his voice, I recognized the tension in his jawline. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adam giving me a panicked look. Apparently, he was expecting me to get us out of this mess.

Little did he know that my brain wasn't exactly home at the moment.

After a couple more moments of tense and uncomfortable silence, Adam must have finally realized I was pretty much worthless. He cleared his throat before talking, probably to give himself a little more time to come up with an excuse.

"Bookworm was just...." Adam's voice started to falter.

"Helping him find a book." I finished with a nod of my head, finally coming out of my daze.

"Really?" Dallas asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. I couldn't blame him either. If Adam needed a book, why would he come to my bookstore? He hated me. But that's not what Dallas said. Instead, he turned his gaze on his brother.

"Adam, you don't read." He argued with an annoyed look. "You haven't picked up a book since the 5th grade."

"Not true. I read To Kill a Mockingjay last year for school." Adam protested, crossing his arms against his chest. He must not have realized his mistake, because he was looking pretty smug.

"Bird." I corrected, rubbing the bridge of my nose in exasperation. He was so not helping our case.

"Where?" Adam asked, looking up in bewilderment at the ceiling. Dallas sighed heavily, letting his head hang low.

"It's called To Kill a Mockingbird." I snapped, resisting the urge to slap the back of his annoyingly large head.

"Huh." He muttered, looking a bit lost in thought. "Are you sure?" He questioned, scrunching his nose.

"That's not the point." Dallas cut in, his voice rising slightly. When neither Adam or I replied, Dallas sighed bitterly. "If you're going to lie, at least come up with a good excuse." He accused, keeping his glare on me.

"Dallas-" I started, prepared to tell him the truth.

"We aren't lying." Adam interrupted, a fierce look on his face. "If you can't trust us, that's your problem."

I immediately felt a pang of guilt inside of me. Adam was lying to Dallas because he didn't want him to figure out about the whole Price Twins issue. But me? I had no reason to lie to Dallas.

And more than that, I absolutely hated doing it. 

Dallas locked eyes with me and for a moment we both pretended that Adam wasn't even there. We had a silent conversation, and sometime in the middle of it the look in Dallas' eyes turned from one of anger and confusion to a dejected one. He could tell I was lying to him. And I knew from personal experience that when someone you cared about lied to you, it stung. A lot. 

"I'm not an idiot." Dallas stated. His voice was matter-of-fact and subdued. "So do me a favor and don't treat me like one." 

And with that, he turned and walked off. He didn't say another word or give me another look. I just stood there in silence while I watched him walk away. At first, I was just going to let him go. He had every right too turns his back on me. In fact, I probably would have done the samething. When you get hurt by the people you love, sometimes it's best to just walk it off and get some fresh air.