The door opened behind me and I turned to see Law barrelling through it. “Gabi—”
“No.” I cut him off, almost falling down the short flight of steps in my attempt to get away from him. “Leave me alone.”
“You have to let me explain.” He followed me across the backyard, taking hold of my arm.
I whirled to face him, yanking free of his grasp. “What explanation could you possibly have for cheating on me?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Oh really?” A brittle laugh broke free. “Are you going to claim this is all a big misunderstanding? That I didn’t catch you making out with one of my oldest friends?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not denying anything. There’s no misunderstanding. I kissed Connor.”
At least he wasn’t insulting my intelligence with lies or back-peddling, although a tiny part of me was disappointed he wasn’t even going to try.
“I can’t believe I was going to have sex with you,” I seethed, my lip curling into a sneer. “I was so happy I’d found a guy willing to wait for me to be ready. I’m such an idiot.” My head fell forward as I cringed. “You probably never wanted to have sex with me in the first place.”
Law’s face darkened. “That’s not true.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re gay?” I cried. “Why did you pretend to be in love with me?”
“I’m not gay, Gabi.” He came forward, taking my face in his hands. “Idolove you. You know that.”
I shook my head in denial, my own hands rising to grasp his wrists and yank him away. “Not enough.”
He pressed his palms together in front of his mouth as he paused to collect himself. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my feelings for Connor. I’ve never been attracted to a guy before. It hasn’t been long since I figured it out myself and I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You say it,” I snapped. “Out loud, to my face. You don’t sneak around kissing other people behind closed doors.” Anger burned hot through my veins as I asked another question I didn’t want the answer to. “How long has this been going on?”
“It hasn’t… we’ve never…” He trailed off for a moment. “Not before tonight.”
Perhaps he planned to insult my intelligence after all. “Am I supposed to believe I happened to catch you in the act, the very first time you kissed a guy?”
He looked down at the ground, his hands sliding into his pockets. “Itwasthe first time, but you catching us was no accident, Gabi,” he said, his voice strained. “I knew you were coming. I wanted you to find us.”
Gasping, I took a step back. “Why would you be so cruel?” I asked, my voice breaking. “Why hurt me like that?”
“I don’t want to hurt you. I want to love you, Gabi.” Taking my hand, he tucked it against his chest. The familiarity of the gesture caused a fresh wave of pain to course through me. “You have to listen to me. I know you have feelings for Connor.” I shook my head, but he kept talking. “The day you took his photo, I saw the way the two of you were together. Frank told me you liked each other before you and I ever got together.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” The way he looked at me, the excitement in his eyes as he talked about me and Connor, it was crazy. I didn’t understand. “I had a crush on him, but that was ages ago. Nothing ever came of it.”
“But it could. Don’t you see?” He reached out to cup my cheek, his smile blinding. “We could be together. The three of us.”
Horror seeped in through my pores, found its way to my heart and tore it to bloody shreds. “Is that why you didn’t stop?” The words came out as a whisper, even as I screamed the question inside my head. “You didn’t stop kissing him. When I walked in, you looked at me, but you kept kissing him.” I’d thought maybe he’d frozen at the sight of me, but that wasn’t it.
“What did you think would happen?” I cried, taking a step back as I pulled myself free of him. “Did you think I’d like finding the two of you together? Did you think I’d join in?”
“I know it sounds crazy—”
“It’s not crazy, Lawrence. It’s disgusting.” He opened his mouth, but I jumped in before he could continue. “We haven’t even had sex yet and you’re already making plans to share me with someone else?”
“No, it’s not like that,” he said, his whole body trembling. “If you’d listen to me.”
“I have listened, and now I know what a sick, perverted son of a bitch you really are. I will never let you touch me again, you freak.”
He flinched, the blood draining from his face. “No, Gabi. Don’t do this. Please.”
I didn’t respond. I had nothing else to say.
