Watch Me Win, Alpha

We walked for about ten minutes. Soon, my ankle was protesting with pain, and sweat was beading down my forehead.

“Are we almost there?” Alexander asked and glanced anxiously at me.

“Yes,” I answered before Ethan could. “We are.”

A few moments later, the bamboo ended, and we stopped at a small grass clearing.

Alexander squinted and gazed around. “There’s nothing here,” he said.

“Yes, there is,” Ethan said and walked past us, heading to the middle of the clearing.

Alexander moved to follow him, but I grabbed his hand. I ignored the electric pulse that went down my arm from the contact.

“Let him do this on his own,” I muttered. “He has to.”

“1

Ethan dropped to his knees and began to dig in the ground. Gai and Alexander shared a look, probably wondering if Ethan had finally gone off the deep end and was now truly crazy.

But I knew what he was looking for.

other, Ethan gathered items that were special to us. The movie ticket stub from our first date, the stuffed animal he won me at the fair in tenth grade, and a twenty–five cent blue plastic ring that he got from a toy dispenser at

in the bamboo forest. Then, Ethan kissed me and promised me that we would come back here and dig

five minutes, sweat was pouring down his face, and his hands were filthy with dirt. He looked up at me with

said and raised my chin. “Maybe you’re looking in the

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Chapter 309

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me magically get back together with you. We’re over.” I paused and waited a moment so that my words hopefully sunk in.

had punched him, and he shook his head, refusing to believe the truth. He looked pitiful sitting there on his knees, his

and Alexander as I

*Author*

of Olivia limping through the bamboo forest, Alexander picked her up and carried her. He didn’t want Ethan to catch up to them. That crazy man could find his own way home. Olivia didn’t even protest but snuggled

to drive. His head whipped around, his eyes searching for Ethan in the dark night. He wasn’t worried about himself, but he didn’t want Ethan to try to harm Olivia. His hands curled into fists at just the thought of him laying a hand on her. He didn’t know if he would

Olivia urged Gai, who was obeying the fifteen mile per hour speed limit that was posted all over the school’s parking lot. “No one is

stepped

seatbelt as she was pressed against her seat. Her leg was bouncing, and

she could make eye contact with him, a car pulled