Hanna’s POV
The room felt too small, the air too thick. Elordi's sarcastic laugh echoed in my ears, making my heart sink lower with each passing second. This was all wrong.
“Are you kidding me?” he spat, his voice cold, eyes blazing as he stared me down. “I’ve been busting my ass trying to look out for you, thinking Finn was messing with your head—and you wanted this?”
I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck in my throat. My pulse hammered, and I felt a desperate need to explain, to make him understand.
“I didn’t ask you to save me,” I managed to say, my voice small but firm. Elordi’s disappointment stung, sharper than I’d expected. But I couldn’t take it back now. The truth was out.
Elordi’s anger didn’t waver. If anything, it grew. He took a step forward, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You could’ve fooled me.”
I swallowed hard, guilt swirling inside me. “Elordi, I never meant for things to get this bad. It was just supposed to be a way to get your attention.” My words were stumbling out now, the emotions building up until they couldn’t be held back any longer. “I told Finn... I told him I liked you, and we came up with this plan to make you jealous.”
His eyes narrowed, disbelief flickering across his face. “So, all this? This whole charade was just some stupid plan?”
I nodded, feeling smaller with every second that passed.
Elordi stared at me, his jaw tight, hurt evident in his gaze. “Well, congratulations, Hanna. It worked. I noticed.” His voice dripped with bitterness, and he threw his hands up in frustration. “But now I don’t know what the hell to do with that.”
The room spun, the weight of my own mistakes crushing me. I wanted to say something—anything—to fix it, to make him see why I’d done it, to undo the mess I’d made. But nothing came out.