She pointed at her tongue, and Iyla and Addie laughed at the man’s misfortune. Meanwhile, my head was stuck on this Bradley guy being terrible at talking dirty and giving oral. Plenty of guys had that issue, so it was probably just a coincidence. But I remembered that Dante had mentioned meeting Bradley at a party thrown at a friend’s house.
“H-His dirty talk was bad?” I asked with a lighthearted chuckle, trying to calm down my spiraling thoughts and doubts.
“Terrible,” she answered with a confirming nod. “He kept saying really cringy lines about mynectaror thinking he was making me go crazy while he literally couldn’t find a clit, even if one appeared in front of him.”
I couldn’t breathe. Nausea rose up my throat.
“Not to mention,” she continued, looking up at the ceiling, “he had an obsession with calling me some silly nickname that made everything dry as sand.”
“What nickname?” Iyla asked.
“Dollface,” Harper and I said at the same time.
Harper’s lips snapped shut, and I felt my face drain of color. Harper’s eyes locked on mine, and the realization hit her the same time it did everyone else. Iyla and Addie looked like they’d just been shot, and the four of us fell into horrified silence.
“He was cheating on me,” I whispered roughly, slowly dropping my head. Fresh tears sprung to life behind my eyes, and I hiccuped on a hurt inhale. “Bradley cheated on me.”
Everything inside of me turned to ice, and the shards tore through me in violent shakes. Memories of my mother breaking down after learning of my father’s infidelity flashed through my head, and I mirrored her now. I clutched my head and curled in on myself, shaking as I went back in time through every moment where doubt had sprung up, only to be squashed by Bradley’s reassurances that I was the only one and all he wanted. He’d said he’d never hurt me the way my dad hurt my mom. He’d promised I was the only one.
And I fell for it.
I fucking fell for it.
MY STOMACH WAS IN KNOTS. I’d been nauseous ever since the girls left my apartment, Harper’s revelation tearing me up inside. My head spun, my stomach churned, and my broken heart shattered into even more pieces.
I was a mess, yet my chaotic thoughts had me stumbling to my car in my pajamas. I couldn’t think. All I could do was spiral with the need for answers. My body had a mind of its own as I drove to Bradley’s apartment and walked up to his door. It wasn’t until it opened to reveal a perplexed-looking Bradley thatI decided I was really going to go through with it. I was going to confront this man.
“Dollface,” Bradley greeted in surprise, looking me up and down. “What are you doing here?”
I swallowed the vomit trying to climb my throat. How many others had he called that name while making me believe I was the only one?
“Can I come in?” I asked, barely managing to sound normal.
He frowned. “Uh. Yeah. Sure.”
He opened the door for me, and I walked in while clasping my shaking hands in front of me. I looked around the living room and kitchen, wondering how many others had been brought here. It was while I scanned the room that I spotted a bottle of vodka and a glass on the coffee table. Knives carved up the inside of my chest upon discovering yet another lie.
“I thought you weren’t going to drink anymore,” I said, turning to face him.
His eye twitched, and he rubbed the back of his neck while forcing a smile. “I only had a sip. It’s Saturday, and I’m home alone. A sip isn’t a big deal, Dollface. Don’t be so uptight. We’re trying to rekindle things, not start all new problems.”
My lip trembled as tears pricked my eyes. I didn’t have the energy to argue that I never agreed to rekindle things with him. I didn’t have the strength to point out that my heart beat and broke for someone else now. All I could manage was one painful question.
“Did you cheat on me?”
I knew the answer, but I wanted to see if he’d at least have the balls to own up to his betrayal.
His feigned smile slowly fell, and his blue eyes narrowed into slits. “Did Dante tell you that bullshit?”
Bradley stepped into my space as he snarled the question, and the strong smell of alcohol wafted through the air. Thepungent smell was far too much to have gotten from a mere sip, and it only made the roiling in my stomach that much worse. I had to sit down on the edge of the couch.
“Dante has nothing to do with this,” I said with my glare fixed firmly on his. “I’m askingyou, Bradley. Did you ever cheat on me?”
“Of course I didn’t!” he yelled with a wave of his hand. He squatted by where I sat and grabbed my hands, which had curled into tight fists in my lap. “Doll, Iloveyou. I’d never do something like that to you.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks as I yanked my hands away. “Howcouldyou? How could you do that to me? How many times did you do it? How many people did you fuck behind my back while I just waited around for you like some idiot?”
He grabbed my wrists tightly and yanked me back toward him. “I don’t know where this is coming from, but you better calm down. I didn’t agree to take you back, only for you to act this way.”
