I wished he’d pull me back into his arms. I liked it there. And I didn’t see what the big deal was. “It’s okay. Nothing happened.” I sounded a little disappointed.

“I could have seriously hurt you.” He ran a hand over his head, clasping the back of his neck.

“Do you realize how weird this is? I’m the one who could’ve seriously hurt you. You can make me dizzy and maybe, worst-case scenario, put me in a coma for a few days. I can kill you. So who has the bigger right to freak out here? I’d say me.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me. I haven’t told you this, but my gift would kick in before you did any serious damage. I don’t think I’d even be able to stop it from doing so.”

Well, that was good to know. But it didn’t bother me. It actually made me glad that he was protected in that way. I chewed on my lower lip and watched him. Regret strained his face. That kind of stung. This probably explained why I asked the next question. “Are you still mad that I told Mr. Theo and not you?”

Hayden took a step back, eyes narrowing. “I think it’s ridiculous that you’d confide in a complete stranger. I thought you trusted me.”

“I do trust you, but Mr. Theo isn’t a stranger.” I hopped down from the desk and brushed past him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought you didn’t want to hear about it anymore. That you were done dealing with it.”

“What?” He spun around. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want to bother you.” I folded my arms. “I just thought it would make us argue more.”

Hayden shook his head. “I don’t understand you sometimes. If you could just let go of how you feel about my family for two seconds”

“Not going to happen.”

He groaned. “Do you knowdo you even care how disappointed he was in me? What that meant to me?”

My head jerked up. “What? You didn’t tell him you knew about the stuff in the locker, did you? I told him I didn’t tell anyone, Hayden. Oh, God.”

“He didn’t appreciate the fact that I’d been hiding what was happening.”

“Then why did you tell him?”

“I needed to tell him the truth, Ember!” he said, equally frustrated. “It’s bad enough that I’ve been lying to him about helping you.”

“I never made you help me! You pushed it on me!”

He stared at me for what seemed like forever. “My father was on the phone with every contact he has ever made in the last ten years after he reamed my ass out last night. He sent Kurt to find out who’s behind the stuff in your locker.”