I didn’t stop at Chad’s room. I went straight to mine and quietly walked inside. I peered into the bedroom from the lounge of the suite to see Loralei lying under the blankets in bed, seemingly asleep. I closed the door to the bedroom, then stepped out onto the balcony off the lounge with my mind still on my conversation with Morgan.
Ironically enough, what she told me about Loralie and Chad wasn’t even what surprised me most.
It was what she said afterward.
And if I really wanted to sabotage your relationship even after we called a truce, why would I have spent the last three months avoiding you?
Why do you think I stopped coming around, Wes?
I couldn’t stop wondering what exactly she meant. I had a thought—more of ahope—but at the same time, I was afraid of letting myself believe it. I berated myself for not asking her to elaborate, but I’d been too taken aback to even respond.
And the fact that whether or not her words meant something was what I was focusing on rather than the actual bombshell she dropped on me about what she saw spokevolumes.
I didn’t sleep in the bed that night. What little sleep I did get was on the sofa in the lounge.
The following morning, I woke before Loralei, got dressed, and headed out of the suite. I walked down the hall and stopped in front of a door, knocking loudly. I didn’t give a fuck that it was barely eight in the morning.
I heard stumbling, and a moment later, the door swung open to reveal a boxer-clad Chad with his hair sticking up all over the place. “Dude, what time is it?” I didn’t answer. I brushed right by him and into his room. “Sure, come on in.”
When he shut the door and turned to face me, he parted his lips to speak, but I didn’t give him the chance. “I’m just gonna come right out and ask this…” His brow furrowed. “Have you been messing around with Lora?”
I had my answer immediately, evident by the way he suddenly couldn’t look me in the eyes.
“I’ll take the way you’re being too much of a pussy to look at me as a yes.”
Chad heaved a sigh, lifting his gaze to mine. “Look, I’m sorry. It just…kind of happened.”
“Oh? Care to elaborate?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “The night after you introduced her to me, I saw her while I was out with a guy from work. I went up to say hi, we had some drinks while we talked, one thing led to another…”
“And then you just kept sticking your dick in her afterward?”
“I mean…yeah, I guess.”
I let out a wry laugh as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Wow…”
“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d even care.” My brow furrowed at his words. “I mean, it’syou. You’ve never wanted any kind of relationship in your damn life, and out of nowhere, you pop up with a girlfriend. I thought you were just fucking around with her.”
“You didn’t think I’dcare? And even if I was just fucking around, you think that makes it okay for you to go behind my back forweeks?”
“I mean…” He threw his hands up. “We’ve always had this little rivalry going. It’s just what we do, Wes.”
“We may have had a stupid rivalry when it came to calling dibs or who got to talk to someone first, but we haveneverfucked around with a girl the other is with, regardless of the capacity. So don’t even try to justify it with that because that’s bullshit, and you fucking know it.”
Chad went quiet, knowing I was right. He broke the silence a moment later. “So…where do we go from here?”
“Nowhere,” I stated.
“Really?” He scoffed. “You’re just gonna let some girl come in between a decade-long friendship?”
“I didn’t do that.Youdid.” I shook my head. “We’re not the same guys we were in college, and I think it’s safe to say we’reon different paths. And we obviously have different definitions of loyalty.” He looked at me, clearly taken aback by my stance. “Just pack your shit and go, man.”
Without another word, I walked by him and out of the room.
I thought you were just fucking around with her.
The words Chad said rang true in a way, something I’d known from the start. I gave Loralei the label she claimed to want, only to force myself to forget about someone else. What I’d done wasn’t much different than “fucking around.” It was for an entirely different reason, but it didn’t make it any better.
