Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Now my temper roared. “Why the fuck would she think you were me?”
His eyes shifted away again.
“Edric.”
“Because . . . I made it seem like I was you.”
“How?”
“Wore a long-sleeved shirt to hide that I don’t have tattoos . . . did the walk and the talk . . . smiled.”
“So this was completely premeditated.”
“Not really,” he said. “I saw an opportunity, and I just took it.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I told you I’d been drinking . . . and you know I’ve always had a thing for her—”
“I’ve been dating her for over a year, and you still have a thing for her? Or do you still have a thing for her because she is mine and not yours? You always do this shit, Edric. You always go for the same girls, like it’s some kind of sick competition.”
“I swear I don’t. We just have identical taste in women—which makes sense since we’re fucking identical.”
“You’re going to blame this on genetics?” I asked incredulously.
“And like I said, I’d been drinking.”
“Or it’s because you’re a worthless piece of shit. You chase a girl until you get underneath her skirt, and then you find some reason to dump her and chase someone else. Over and over. Doomed to repeat the same mistakes forever because you’re a shit human being, Edric.”
He stared with stoicism, but his throat shifted when he swallowed.
“You will never be happy. And then you’ll be a middle-aged guy bitching about the fact that all women suck, when you’re the one who sucks. Blaming them for the fact that you’re alone, when the reason you’re alone is because you can’t be happy with anyone since you aren’t happy with yourself.”
“Wow. So that’s what you think of me?”
“It is now, yeah,” I snapped. “I point-blank asked what was going on, and you gaslit me. Told me I was paranoid. I’m the one who just got cheated on, and you’re flipping the narrative to make me look like the asshole. Straight from the narcissist playbook. Well, that shit won’t work on me, Edric.” My mom always excused his bullshit because he was her son. I got it. My dad did too. But I saw a lot more that they never witnessed.
“I didn’t have to tell you this, Con. But I wanted to—”
“Because you want me to dump Isabella so you can have her. And then you’ll pump and dump.”
He stepped back as the most wounded look he’d ever worn came over his face. “Jesus Christ, Con. She doesn’t want me. She wants you. I couldn’t have her even if I wanted to. The only way I could was when she thought I was you for sixty seconds.”
“Then what the fuck has been going on between you? I saw you talking on the patio. Saw the way you stared at each other across the room. If you didn’t want me to know, you sure made it pretty fucking obvious.”
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. He looked at the floor before he found my eyes again. “She was obviously pissed off when she realized I wasn’t you. Slapped me and shoved me.”
“I would hope so, because that’s fucking assault, Edric.”
“I didn’t assault her—”
“She thought you were me, so that wasn’t consensual. Your face will be broken before you leave this apartment, Edric.” I wouldn’t let him get away with what he did to my girl—even if she wouldn’t be my girl anymore when this was over.
He didn’t argue, accepted the punishment like a man. “And then there was tension between us because . . . I think she started to feel attracted to me.”
I felt fucking sick.
“We talked a couple times, and she said she just wanted to forget what happened. I wanted to tell you, but she said you would never forgive her so we needed to take it to the grave.”
Never forgive her when my brother kissed her?
“And I thought I could do that . . . until every time I had to look at you. I was a stupid asshole, and I would give anything to take it back. Hand to God, I feel like fucking shit—”
“Don’t you dare bring him into this.”
“Con, I truly feel horrible for what happened. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can barely breathe. I’ve never felt so shitty for anything I’ve ever done in my life.”
“Well, you can continue to feel terrible, because I don’t forgive you.”
His shoulders dropped at the blow. “Con—”
“I was going to ask her to marry me. Still haven’t paid off the damn ring.”
He took a step back, truly looking horror struck, like he might vomit in the middle of the living room. “Oh Jesus . . .” He cupped his mouth with his hand before he covered his eyes. It didn’t look like a performance but a true reaction.