“Sleeping with my dad?! You want to talk about betrayal?Thatis betrayal.”
I turned back toward her with hot, angry tears in my eyes. Why was she acting this way all of a sudden? Where had the last eighteen years of friendship gone? Why would she try to twist this on me? Sure, it was wrong to sleep with her father. But sleeping with my boyfriend for far longer was so much worse.
“Don’t turn this back around on me,” I said.
Mason had done that so many times before.
I glanced at Michael, who pushed Mason away from him. His muscles were flexed, a sinister expression written all over his face. Michael didn’t lose his temper often. Hell, I’d never seen him even yell at Melissa before. But he looked ready to kill.
Mason stared at me, growled under his breath, and stomped out the front door, making sure to slam it behind him like the child he was. I stared at the door with tears in my eyes, so overcome with emotions that I’d never thought I’d feel. Something deep down inside of me always knew Mason was a cheater, but I didn’t think my best friend would be the one to sleep with him.
I’d trusted her more than anything. We had been friends our entire lives. Why would she betray me like this? Mason wasn’t even that good in bed, he was a shit person, and he didn’t care. Didn’t she know that he’d treat her the same way after they got comfortable?
After Mason walked down the street to his parked car–which I should’ve freaking noticed before–and drove away, I crossed my arms over my chest.
Michael glared at Melissa, his jaw twitching. “Mia, take my keys and leave. I need to talk to my daughter.” His voice was tenser than I had ever heard it, full of hurt and anger. And that look in his eyes told me that he was going to do more thantalkto her. He would scold her.
I glanced at Michael, then at Melissa, who glared atmelike I was in the wrong. And then I turned on my heel to walk up the stairs to the foyer.
Michael caught my arm before I left. “Keep your phone with you. Make sure Mason isn’t following you.”
My lips trembled, and I nodded. I grabbed the keys from the foyer and hurried out of the house. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry in front of them. But as soon as I slid behind the wheel, started the car, and drove down the driveway, the tears flowed from my eyes.
CHAPTER32
MICHAEL
When Mia left, Melissa snatched her keys from the coffee table and stormed past me. I grabbed them from her and shoved them into my pocket.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I said through gritted teeth, the anger bubbling inside of me.
Since I’d heard her say Mason’s name, I had been holding myself back from snapping. I didn’t want any trouble in front of Mia or for Mason to hurt her. She was too stressed already, but I would deal with Mason later. Melissa, on the other hand … I couldn’t tell her to leave without punishing her for what she’d done.
“Give me my keys back,” Melissa said, glaring at me with her mother’s angry eyes.
All I felt was pure anger for letting her get this way. She reached for my pocket, but I stepped away.
“They’re mine.”
“I bought you the fucking car, Melissa. They aren’t yours. Now, sit down.”
After huffing to herself, she stomped over to the couch and sat down on it, crossing her arms over her chest. “How about we start with how you’re fucking my best friend?”
“Your best friend?” I asked, stunned. “If you were friends with Mia, you wouldn’t have been fucking Mason behind her back, and you wouldn’t have pressured her into sleeping with Victor at a party.”
Melissa suddenly got quiet for a moment. “I didn’t pressure her into sleeping with him. We have threesomes all the time. I didn’t see the problem, especially because she complains about Mason every single moment that I’m with her.”
“The problem is, she called me to come get her because she didn’t think she was safe. She called me because you couldn’t be a good friend to her and watch her when you knew her mother was in the hospital. You wanted her to go to the party, and you fucking ditched her!” I slammed my palm against the wall and tried so desperately to hold myself together. After taking another deep breath, I said, “The problem is, you’ve been sleeping with her boyfriend for months.” I shook my head, feeling so betrayedforMia. “I thought I’d raised you better than that.”
She glared at me without saying a word. “You don’t have any room to talk. How long have you been sleeping with Mia? Was it while they were dating?”
My jaw twitched, my heart pounding against my chest. Melissa was acting like her mother. Going behind her boyfriend’s back and betraying her closest friends to fuck someone who didn’t know the first thing about sex. She was exactly like her, but I couldn’t tell her that. So, instead, I pursed my lips.
“We’ve been seeing each other for a couple months, serious for only a couple weeks.” I clenched my jaw. “How long have you known that Mason was treating Mia like shit and you let it happen?” I asked her, anger boiling inside of me again. “How long did you take advantage of your friendship to sleep with her boyfriend?”
“That’s different,” she said. “I love Mason.”
My eyes widened. “You love Mason? Are you serious, Melissa?” I shook my head. “You’re not seeing Mason. I will not allow it. He will do the same thing to you that he did to Mia. He will cheat on you time and time again.”
