I wanted to laugh, because that much was already true. That night at the party, me following her and Grady, interrupting their hookup, it had only been a temporary respite. I’d never really have Kelsey again.
Mel started to walk away, and it was as she walked away that I wondered if she’d go and talk to Kelsey about it. If they’d have a long heart-to-heart and confess their secrets to each other. If Mel told Kelsey what happened last year already, if she told Kelsey that it was me who was the last straw, Kelsey would never want to look at me again, and I couldn’t blame her.
I watched Mel leave, all the while standing there and letting my anger fester. This was a fuckfest of epic proportions, and I was going to beat the shit out of Dean for this. For dragging Mel into this. You’d think the asshole would’ve learned by now that Mel wasn’t his, that he’d fucked up and lost her—that there was no coming back from what he did. But no…
No, my life couldn’t be simple. I had to lose the one thing I actually cared about.
Kelsey.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Kelsey
Something was wrong with Mel, I knew. I knew something was wrong with her, because she was hardly talking to me, hardly looking at me. She never smiled anymore—not that she smiled much to begin with, but sometimes my snark got her to chuckle, at least. Not now. Not for the last few days. Something was bothering her, and it was for a purely selfish reason that I wanted to find out what it was.
Selfish because I could then focus on what was wrong with her instead of the multitude of things that were wrong with me. And there were a lot. My whole life felt like it was falling apart, and everything I did only added fuel to the fire.
It was a few days along when I could no longer take it. I was sitting at my desk, trying to outline a paper with three main subjects while doing some research on my phone—the bulk of my research would be done at the library after the outline was done—and she had earphones in, listening to music while doing some math homework.
I heaved a sigh to myself as I scooted my chair back and stood up. I spun and marched over to her, yanking out one of her earbuds and causing her brown gaze to snap in my direction. I leaned on her desk, crossing my arms as I held her stare. It was the longest time she’d stared at me in the last few days.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, cocking my head. My brown hair was in an unkempt mess on my shoulders, the waviness more like windswept instead of cute, gentle beach waves. I never looked cute. Never. I was not one of those girls who held that power. “Or am I going to have to drag it out of you? And I will, you know. I will drag it out of you.” Me telling her I was stubborn felt like the pot calling itself black; we both knew it by now, so I might as well save my breath.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Mel muttered, turning away from me. She pulled out her second earbud and stood, walking away. Granted, she only walked to her bed, so it wasn’t like I couldn’t follow her.
“Are you sure? Because you’ve been kind of miserable these last few days,” I said. Had she seen the video of Levi and me? I didn’t want her to; I didn’t want her to think that I’d purposefully kept him a secret from her. Which…okay, I totally had, but that was beside the point. I’d learned my lesson when it came to Levi.
Mel tossed me a lingering look. Hurt flashed behind those warm, amber eyes, and inside, I felt instantly sad. It was hard not to be saddened when faced with a look like that. It was a look that said she was beaten, broken, depressed. It was a look I’d do anything to wipe from her face.
Regardless of the fact that I’d kept Levi to myself, she was my friend. I did my best to protect my friends, even if it was from themselves. Just ask Ash: I was there for her when no one else was. I never asked questions, even when she called me during her little retreat with secret her boyfriend, even when she’d entered my car, covered in blood.
I liked to think I was a good friend, or at least a decent one. I could be a good one to Mel, if she’d open up to me and tell me what was wrong. Did she see the video, or did Dean try to talk to her again? Was it something else? Did I need to dick-punch anyone for her?
Mel coughed, glancing down to her phone in her lap. Her fingers moved against the screen as she softly asked, “Have you seen this?” She lightly tapped her phone before offering it to me. I took it, and the instant I saw the room through a night vision lens, I knew what I was watching.
Levi and me, getting down and dirty. Me going at his cock like its cum held magical qualities that would cure me of my rashness.
The sound was on, so I was able to hear our groans, every little sound we made. I set her phone down, feeling my cheeks heat up. So this was all because of me. Her attitude these last few days, how sad and miserable she’d acted, was because of what I did with Levi.
Honestly? I felt terrible. I didn’t want to be the cause of so much strife
