My gaze travels to Dean, but he’s already staring back across the living room at me with his eyebrows furrowed. He’s sitting on the other end of the couch from Jake, but he’s bolt upright and clearly uncomfortable. He gives Tiffani’s hand on my thigh a pointed glance, then shakes his head in disapproval.
“Can someone text Rachael and ask her where the hell she is?” Tiffani asks, then sighs as she sits up and pushes herself away from me, getting to her feet. “I’ll get us some food,” she says over her shoulder, crossing over to the kitchen.
As soon as she is out of earshot, Dean seizes his opportunity to askme the question that he has clearly been dying to ask. “So…you’re broken up?” he asks, skeptically raising an eyebrow. “Because it sure doesn’t look that way.”
“Sort of,” I admit. I don’t really knowwhatTiffani and I are right now, but we definitely aren’t officially back together or anything. I slump back against the cushions, eyeing Dean suspiciously. “Where’d you hear that from anyway?”
“Who do you think? Rachael,” Dean says, but I guess I could have figured that out by myself. Tiffani was with Rachael last night, and they’re best friends. Of course she’ll have brought Rachael up to date on everything that has happened this past week… Did she tell her that I was working for Declan Portwood? Did she tell her about my relationship with Eden? That I’ve been kicked out of my own house? That she’s pregnant? Do our friends knoweverything?
Suddenly, I shoot upright, and I can’t help but narrow my eyes at Dean. “What else did you hear?” I ask, my tone threatening. I have too many secrets, and I want to keep them that way.
“God, you’re so fucking problematic,” Jake remarks as he’s flicking through the TV channels. He doesn’t even look over at me, but he’s probably hoping that my temper will snap. He loves it when I make a fool out of myself. “We heard you broke up with Tiff, but yet you’re pretty much living here. Clearly, you two are still a thing.Shocker,” he dramatically gasps. He sets down the remote and finally turns his head to look at me. “End of story,” he says, and he doesn’t know it, but his words fill me with relief. So theydon’tknow that there is so much more to the story than just that.
Tiffani cheerily calls my name from the kitchen, so I grit my teeth and let this conversation go. I head over to the kitchen to join her as she’s filling a bowl of tortilla chips. There’s popcorn popping in themicrowave, and I lean back against the countertop as I watch Tiffani closely. She’s wearing a smile that is almost too happy, a smile that is so forced and so fake. Sometimes I seriously wonder if she may just be a better actor than I am. How can she act so calm? How can she act like we have everything under control when we don’t? I’ve been on edge the entire week, I’m barely sleeping, and I feel sick every time I think about our situation. How can she pretend that everything is fine?
The microwave beeps and she spins around to grab the bowl of popcorn, but it burns her hands and she laughs out loud as she quickly drops the bowl onto the countertop. She looks up at me from beneath her eyelashes, blushing. I just can’t keep up with this whole performance, but I try my best to at least offer her a smile. Even place my hand over hers.
“Rachael!” she suddenly exclaims as her gaze drifts over my shoulder. She grabs the bowl of popcorn and nudges me out the way. I pinch the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. But then I hear Tiffani say, “Eden?”
Immediately, I spin around, my heartbeat rocketing…and she’s really there. Standing at the door by Rachael’s side is Eden, and it is the first time I have seen her since Sunday.
“It took you long enough to notice us!” Rachael says as she wanders into the house.
“Sorry,” Tiffani says, but her entire tone has changed. So has her demeanor. Her body has tensed up next to me, and she remains glued to the spot as she stares at Eden.
But Eden is only looking at me. Our eyes meet, and the hazel of her eyes only makes me fall in love with her all over again. God, I miss her. What is she doing here though? She is anxious; I can see it in her expression, in all of her perfect features. Have I ruined everythingbetween us? Does she still care about me? I want to run to her, pull her into my arms, and tell her that I’m sorry. That I want to be with her. That I love her.
“Tiff, can we talk to you for a sec?” Rachael asks as she clears her throat on the staircase.
“Sure,” Tiffani says, but her act is slipping. Her eyes are narrowed into a sharp glare, and her tone is bitter as she slams the bowl of popcorn back onto the countertop and walks away from me. She storms past Rachael, all the way upstairs.
I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I need to talk to Eden. Quickly, I force my legs to move and I make my way toward her, but I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say. I can sense Dean’s eyes on us, and my stomach is in knots as I near her. Suddenly, she heads for the staircase after Tiffani and Rachael, but I manage to reach out and grasp her elbow. I pull her back toward me, keeping her close, then move my lips to her ear.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss under my breath. I know Eden can be pretty fearless, but she has some serious nerve turning up here. Tiffani could destroy her entire life if she wanted to. Make it miserable. Turn everyone against her.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Eden says, her tone sharp. She pulls her arm free from my grip and steps back, fixing me with a firm look. She is furious but also disappointed. Mostly, she’s hurt.
I know how this looks. But I’m not running back to Tiffani. I don’twantto be with Tiffani. I’m only here because I have no other choice, because I can’t just bail on her when she needs me. I couldn’t do that. I don’t care about much in my life, but I do care about doing the right thing when I can. Dad made too many mistakes, and he never tried hard enough to fix them. I can’t be him.
I don’t even know what to say to her, at least not now, not here. So I walk away. I head back over to Dean and Jake, and Rachael is yelling Eden’s name from upstairs, and when I glance over my shoulder a few moments later, Eden has disappeared. I collapse down onto the couch and run my hands into my hair, groaning.
“What’s going on?” Dean asks, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who has no idea.
Why is Eden here? Why is she upstairs with Tiffani and Rachael? What the hell are they talking about? It sends my mind into overdrive and the paranoia sets in. Is there something else going on here that I don’t know about?
My gaze is fixated on the TV, but I’m entirely tuned out. My heart is still beating too fast. I almost storm upstairs to find out what’s going on, but I force myself to stay put. I tell myself I’m overthinking it, that I’m growing anxious over nothing, but I just can’t fight the questions that are racing through my mind. I’m too unsettled, and I can’t get comfortable.
“Tyler,” I hear Eden’s voice snap after a number of minutes pass. I crane my neck to look back at her, and she is almost breaking out into a sprint down the stairs. “I need to talk you. Right now. Kitchen,” she splutters, and her words are so frantic that I immediately know something is wrong. Has Tiffani said something to her? What’s happened?
I leap up off the couch and immediately follow Eden over into the kitchen. She backs away into the corner of the room, as far away from Dean and Jake as we can get, and I stop directly in front of her. My brows are drawn together in confusion as I try to take in the panic in her features. Is she okay?
“Tiffani’s not pregnant,” Eden hisses under her breath, gritting her teeth. “She’s faking it so that you’ll get back together with her.”
Her words don’t quite register with me, so I take a step back, blinking fast at her. “What?”
“She just admitted it to us!”
The world seems to stop for a moment as this new revelation sinks in. Tiffani… She’s been lying the entire time? This is all bullshit? God, it stuns me more than it should. I should have known she would never change. She’s a Grade A manipulative bitch. How could she even stoop to such a level as pathetic as this? I think about the other night. I think about the tears she shed, the pain in her eyes… It was all so fucking fake. How could she do this to me? How could she muster up such a cruel lie? Is she seriouslythatdesperate to be with me? I feel Eden’s hand on my arm, the warmth of her skin radiating through me, but then suddenly her touch disappears again. There’s footsteps thundering down the stairs, and when I turn around, I see her—I see Tiffani. She is a mess. Tears are flowing down her cheeks, and she runs over to me.
