“Elijah, leave my sister alone. Go terrorize someone else.”
Elijah chuckles and stalks off to the locker room, blowing Asami a kiss on the way out.
Asami shudders. “Remind me why you’re best friends with this guy.”
Maddox shakes his head. “I ask myself that every day.”
“I’m going to drop Ollie off, but I’ll see you tonight,” I whisper.
“Can’t wait.” He lightly brushes his hand against mine on his way to the locker room.
Izumi pulls me in for a hug. “Please come by for dinner next week. I’ll be happy to have you.”
“You know I’ll be there. I can never turn down your food.” I turn to Asami and give her a hug. “It was so nice catching up with you again. We need to hang out soon.”
“Oh, yes, please! Let me know the next time you’re free!” Asami says.
I’m walking toward the exit with Ollie when I feel a tap on my shoulder.
I turn around to see Lucas standing before me.
“Hey, Annalise.” He smiles. “Howare you?”
Anger courses through my veins when I think about what he said about me.
“How are you? Really?” I let out a short, bitter laugh. “You think you can just strike up a casual conversation as if nothing happened?”
Lucas furrows his brow. “I’m not following.”
I shake my head. “I thought you were my friend. I can’t believe I was so blind.”
He continues to stare at me, dumbfounded. “What are you talking about? Wearefriends.”
“If we were friends, you wouldn’t have gone around telling everyone how you can’t wait to find out how good I am in bed!” I snap, my face flushing with anger.
His face pales. “Did Kamado tell you that? Because it’s not true.” Lucas grabs my arm. “I care about you, Annalise. I would never disrespect you like that.”
I yank my arm away. “Oh, cut the bullshit, Lucas! You always act like you’re such a good person, but you’re not. I finally see you for who you really are. A pathetic, selfish man who’s always been jealous of Maddox.”
“Me, jealous ofhim?” He lets out a laugh. “He’s the one who’s jealous. That’s why he’s making up these lies. I mean, look how he acted when he saw us at dinner together. Don’t you see how toxic and controlling he is?”
“Toxic? Why don’t you take a long, hard look in the mirror? You are theepitomeof toxic,” I say, my voice sharp with anger.
Grabbing Ollie’s arm, I tug him toward the exit. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
“You must have zero self-respect if you plan on getting back with that womanizing asshole,” he spat.
Something in me snaps. All those years when he talked shit about my man, I let it slide. But I’m not going to do that this time.
Spinning around, I march toward him and slap him across theface. “Youare the one with zero self-respect. Stop spreading lies about Maddox and work on yourself.”
Lucas holds his cheek, staring back at me in shock.
“And don’t ever speak to me again,” I add before storming off.
As we exit the arena, Ollie whispers to me, “Wow. That was awesome.”
I smile to myself, feeling liberated after finally doing what I should’ve done years ago.
