Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
“I just heard about the locker room thing. Are you okay?” he asked glumly.
“I’m fine, just... a little out of it. Are you alright?”
He tilted his head back. “I’m not sure.”
I shifted on my feet, my recent text at the forefront of my mind.
His green eyes searched mine. “Did he hurt you back there?”
I didn’t need to ask who he meant.
“He would never hurt me.”
“I saw the way he looked at you, Sanjana. I don’t know what the hell that was, but it wasn’t normal.”
“Ashton, he didn’t touch me.”
“Are you scared of him?”
Not for any reason would a therapist call healthy, and definitely not in the way Ashton meant. “Why would I be afraid of him?”
“I needed to be sure of something.”
This wasn’t making much sense. “Ash, what’s going on?”
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “What did you two do in the bathroom?”
“We talked,” I replied quietly, knowing that didn’t sound at all plausible.
Ashton scoffed. “You talked? In a diner bathroom?”
“I certainly didn’t fuck him in there.”
His eyebrows shot up. That surprised him. I never cussed much, and I wasn’t one to raise my voice unless I was upset. His shock quickly twisted to something else. He took a step towards me, and I stepped back.
“Sanj, I know he’s your best friend, but I’m not comfortable with the way you two are together.”
What the hell was wrong with everyone tonight? I was starting to feel as if I were going round for round in a ring with different opponents. Even if his concern was valid, this wasn’t the right way to handle it, outside the damn Nest with our peers and strangers watching from behind glass and pretending not to.
It wasn’t a good look after being seen walking into a bathroom with Ryder only twenty minutes ago. Ashton should have been less worried about what we did and more focused on what I felt right at that moment. There was physical cheating, emotional cheating, and then there was whatever Ryder and I were trapped in. A cycle with no name and no definition, tangled in both. I caught sight of someone at the window holding up their phone, pretending to check a text. No surprise there.
“I don’t know what you want me to do about that. I’ve never lied to you about Ryder. Or who he is to me.”
“You haven’t,” Ashton bit out, his jaw flexing. “But were you telling the whole truth?”
“What are you talking about?”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, fingers curling around it. “What if I told you someone just let me in on a secret?” His voice dropped, his words shaking. “That you fucked him the week after getting with me.”
I stared at him in partial disbelief. “Who told you that? We can go inside and address it together.”
“It was a text.”
“Okay, show me then.”
His hand trembled as he flipped the screen toward me.
1224
How does it feel knowing your sweet little cheerleader has been landing hard on her best friend? Do you think she fakes it for him, too? Or is it only you she lies to?
“And you took this to mean I slept with him?”
His expression hardened. “You’re saying you never did?”
“If I had fucked him, why would I ever—?”
I stopped before I said something I couldn’t take back. I wasn’t going to let him drag me into a public spectacle bigger than he already had. As much as I wanted to snap, to lay it all out, I wouldn’t humiliate him like that.
“Is this what you meant by doing better?” My voice dripped with sarcasm, each word cutting.
He stepped forward, and without thinking, I stepped back again. His face twisted, a dark flash passing through his eyes.
“Quit acting like you’re afraid of me,” he snapped, far louder than he needed to.
The diner door slammed open behind him.
“Who the fuck are you yelling at like you don’t have any common sense?” Cloe’s voice sliced through the air, sharp and unyielding. She stormed forward, Ari and Roxxi right behind her like an unstoppable wave.
Ashton froze, shame flashing across his features as he took in their expressions.
Ari folded her arms across her chest, radiating a quiet fury that felt more dangerous than any shouting. Roxxi didn’t say a word, but her fingers slipped into her purse in a way that made my heart stutter, because knowing her, she wasn’t checking for lip gloss. Ashton looked around, cornered, the realization of exactly who he was up against sinking in. The guys at the booth had all turned to watch. I saw Nick step away from the table, his eyes sharp and assessing.
“Unbelievable,” Ashton muttered, shaking his head like the world had wronged him, taking a step back.
Roxxi’s voice came low, lethal. “What is? That she moved away from your tantrum? Or that we all saw it?”