“Thank you so much.”
We say our goodbyes and part ways. I jog to my car, coming to terms with my guilt. I don’t regret stringing Luke along anymore. Yes, I made mistakes with him, but I owned up to them and apologized. To know that I wasn’t the first. That he uses his aunt to get his way. That’s low.
Sliding into the passenger seat, I check my phone for the first time in hours. No new messages from Will—my bad, I didn’t answer him earlier.
I text back quickly.
Kass: I miss you too. How’s everything going?
I’m aware I should be mad at him for point-blank ignoring my “I love you” this morning, but right now, all I want to do is tell him about Luke’s stunt. Sure, he may not be ready for the L word yet, but I have to believe he does have feelings for me. You can’t just fake last night. Maybe he needs more time.
That must be it.
I wait for a reply, sitting in my car pointlessly for a few minutes. Not a peep. He warned me he’d be busy, so I don’t think much of it, fire up the engine, and drive off.
Will
The next day
Sprawled across Alex’s couch with Winter, Kendrick, Alex, Blake, and Nicole, I ignore the buzzing off my phone in my pocket and fight the urge to open her text. The fight is today, a few hours away to be exact, and while Kendrick’s been training since dawn, the anxiety is chipping at my sanity.
Kendrick and his psycho ex Nicole told the group they were back together a few minutes ago. Said it happened yesterday at the kegger, which explains why Kendrick didn’t come home all night. I’m not saying I don’t like Nicole, but… let’s just say if Kendrick is half as bad at fighting tonight as he is at picking girls, we’re fucked.
Blake has been acting weird as hell since we got here. He looks pissed at me, staring bullets into my forehead every chance he gets—not that I’m surprised. I beat his ass at training yesterday. Even gave him a black eye by “accident.” It took everything I had not to blurt out, “That’s for fucking Zoey,” when I sent him straight to the mat.
“I have to take a piss.” I bound to my feet, setting off for the bathroom. When I walk back out fifteen minutes later, the living room is deserted. I’m assuming they relocated upstairs to prepare Winter for what she’s going to see tonight. The fights are no picnic. We can’t have her fainting on punch number one.
I trail into the kitchen and grab a beer out of the fridge—maybe it’ll take the fucking edge off—but before I can open it, Blake’s voice erupts behind me.
“Hey, man.”
I whisk my head back to find him reclining against the counter, arms folded over his chest.
“Hey?” I twist the beer cap off.
“I wanted to ask you… How’s Kass?”
I stop moving.
“Or should I say how was Kass? The pussy still good?”
The beer nearly slips out of my hands.
How the hell does he know that?
“Don’t look so surprised. People talk.”
The answer seems evident.
Zoey.
It has to be. They’re probably shagging again. I bet she just couldn’t wait to run her fucking mouth.
“I also saw you sneak out of her house like a fucking criminal yesterday morning.”
Shit.
He did tell me he wanted to talk to Winter in person after Haze crashed the fake-girlfriend dinner. Probably turned up at Kass’s house early.
“You spent the night there, didn’t you? You fucked her?”
This can’t be happening.
Not before the fight.
It would stir up a shitstorm—no, a shithurricane—between me and Kendrick, and we need him on top of his game right now. Struck dumb, I consider my options. I could bullshit him and say I crashed there because I was drunk—how much can he really know from standing outside her house?—but something tells me his mind is made up and set in stone.
“You’re right. I did fuck her. And it was good as hell, thanks for asking.”
He seems floored.
In disbelief that I came clean that easy.
If I were smart, I’d stop there. Stand down. But I find myself wanting to push his buttons for what he did to Kass. A beating wasn’t enough.
“We did it everywhere. On the wall, on her bed, on her desk. She came on my cock over and over again. Oh, and she told me how she faked it your entire relationship. That what you wanted to hear, Blakie?”
His jaw hangs.
I mock gasp. “Shit, TMI?”
“You bastard.” He lurches forward, throwing a punch that he fails to deliver when I duck. “Why her, Will? Why Kass? Couldn’t you find some other girl to empty your balls?”
In one move, I grip his collar, slamming his back to the fridge without breaking a sweat. Blake’s an okay fighter, but he’s far from the best of us. He won’t come at me if he knows what’s good for him.
“It’s not like that,” I spit inches from his face.
“So, you two are dating, then?” He scoffs. “Is that why you’ve been ignoring someone’s texts since yesterday? You’re ghosting her, aren’t you? Because you’re freaking out. Typical Will.”
I’m not ghosting her. I just need time to sort my shit out. I’ll come back to her as soon as this is over.
“None of your business.”
“You’re right. It’s not. But maybe it’s Kendrick’s. I’m sure he’d be happy to know you’re plunging your dick into his sister every night, don’t you?”
The thought makes my skin crawl.
Would he ever forgive me?
“Good point. Why don’t we tell him together? You tell him about me, and I’ll tell him about you, deal?” I quip.
Color spills from his face.
He’s no better than I am. He dated her, too. Long before me. Even if it was a miserable, unfaithful relationship. Yes,
