Plus, I really fell for her.
He didn’t.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Blake tilts his head.
“Try me,” I snarl.
Defeat is written all over his face.
If I’m going down, he’s going down with me.
“Fine.” He shoves me off him.
That’s his way of saying he won’t rat me out. Satisfied, I scurry to the stairs. Alex must be halfway dead by now. He’s been Kendrick’s punching bag for a while.
“Do you love her?”
His voice is ice-cold, but a hint of jealousy melts through. I feel so awful hearing the word “love” I’m tempted to carry on walking. Pretend I didn’t catch that. She told me she loved me this morning. And I acted like some deaf asshole.
I can’t go there.
I don’t even know what that means.
“She’s everything to me.”
A deep laugh leaves his lips. “That’s not saying you love her. Did you feed her that bullshit? Man, she must be a wreck.”
Guilt slices through me.
“She said it, didn’t she? She said she loves you?”
Who the fuck is he? Dr. Phil?
I don’t reply, concentrating my anger into my fists.
“Piece of advice: don’t flatter yourself. Bitch is so desperate for attention she said it to me the first time I screwed her, too. Blame it on the daddy issues.”
I could strangle him.
I regain my composure. “About that, man. You should probably go see someone for your… problem. Maybe you can last a whole minute next time you fuck Zoey’s loose cunt.”
His eyes flare with surprise and rage—surprise because he wasn’t expecting me to know about his history with Zoey, and rage, because well… can’t be easy being a minute man.
“You know what?” He stifles a laugh. “Why am I even bothering? That’s the thing with you, Will. I don’t need to mess up your relationship. I don’t need to ruin your life.” He rams his arm into mine as he beats me to the stairs.
Seconds before he races up, he shoots me a poisonous, spiteful glare over his shoulder.
“You’ll do it yourself.”
Kassidy
“Are you going to eat that?” Ethan slants over me, swiping the untouched chocolate bar in my hand and taking a bite. Morgan stares at me in anticipation of a reaction—any reaction. She knows that, out of my many pet peeves, people touching my food is the biggest one, but to my great surprise, I can’t bring myself to argue.
All I can think about is Will.
It’s been four days since we slept together. Four long days since he said he’d be busy with the guys for a while. And he wasn’t kidding. I haven’t heard from him once. He promised the only reason he wouldn’t text me was if a life was on the line.
Boy, you better be dead.
When Morgan suggested we skip the school’s pep rally and spend the afternoon binge-watching movies at her place, I didn’t hesitate. I was foolish enough to think it would help get my mind off the hundred worst-case scenarios eating me whole. What happened at the fight with Haze?
Who won? Where the hell has everybody vanished to?
I haven’t seen my cousin, my brother, or any of the guys at school all week. Ended up texting Winter about it. No reply. Then I messaged Will, Alex, Kendrick, even Blake—yes, I was that desperate. Nothing. Not even a Read receipt. Or a thumbs-up to let me know they’re alive.
It doesn’t exactly help that I moved out of my house right as everything was going on. The day Will crawled out of my bed, Morgan invited me to sleep over. I got out of work, packed a bag, and drove straight to her place.
Then the strangest thing happened.
My mom, who’s always limited my stay at Morgan’s to a few days tops, called, allowing me to stay longer. Although, if I’m being honest, her tone suggested I didn’t have much of a choice. I didn’t argue because I know how much Morgan hates being alone when her parents are away, but… Why did my mom want me out of the way?
What are they not telling me?
Mom said Winter is bedridden with the flu, which is why she hasn’t been at school, but I don’t buy it. What are the odds of everyone evaporating at the exact same time? A big fat zero. I’ve been considering driving back to my house and seeing for myself.
“Still thinking about him?” Ethan’s voice echoes in my brain.
I blink at him. “Who?”
“You know damn well who. You’re thinking about this Will guy. Still no news?”
“None.” I nibble on my bottom lip.
I’m not nearly as mad as I am worried. What if something happened to him?
“Dick move.” Ethan presses Pause on the comedy I stopped watching two minutes in.
“I’m sure he has a good reason,” Morgan chimes in, her knowledge of my brother’s secret painting her a much clearer picture. I recently told her all about my brother and his friends’ illegal habits. I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore. Especially seeing as the guys consecutively fell off the face of the earth.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what his reason is. If he wanted to, he would’ve. Period,” Ethan objects. “Is he your boyfriend or not? Homeboy needs to figure his shit out.”
My heart tightens in my rib cage.
He does have a point.
On a brighter note, the last few days brought me and Morgan the missing piece to our trio: Ethan. He filled Zoey’s shoes better than she ever could. I invited Ethan over to Morgan’s house after her parents flew out of town. We watched movies until 3:00 a.m., hit it off, and the rest is history. There isn’t one day where we haven’t hung out this week.
The microwave beeps in the distance.
“It’s the popcorn, I got it.” I spring to my feet, dropping my phone on the couch.
Morgan jumps out of
