Capri:
Whether you’re a parent or not, hurting a child isunforgivable.
Lexi:
Remind me to give Capri godmother rights if I ever decide to take that terrifying plunge into motherhood.
Chapter thirteen
Ineed to get out of here before my rage and grief fully consume me in front of these strangers surrounding us. My breathing comes in strangled gasps as I push my way through the small crowd.
I need to get out of here.
I hate that I’m doing it, but I scan the crowded room without really taking in any of my surroundings. My heart is still pounding with both anger and hurt after such an emotionally tolling start to the evening.
I know exactly who I’m looking for. Did he watch me on the screen? I want to ask him if he had to go through the escape room to enter this massive hall, too. Or was that horror just reserved for my friends?
Though, after what I just learned, I don’t think I have any friends left.
Like a moth to a flame, Lexi appears on my left and whispers into my ear, “Can we talk somewhere private? Please, T? I really need to explain.” Her voice sounds pathetically desperate. I can’t stop wondering how Josh and she got away with sleeping together behind my back.
No. I don’t want to know.
“Teagan, please?” Lexi asks again, her voice straining with the pressure to keep her secrets between us.
Screw that, and screw her.
I turn and raise an eyebrow at her before saying firmly and loudly, “Why? Are you going to try to lie your way out of the fact that you werefucking the man I loved?” Lexi winces. I watch with satisfaction when her eyes dart around the room. “Oh, are you worried that the rest of these fine people are going to hear that you’re not only a horrible friend, but also a whore? News flash, Lexi, they saw everything!” I point to the giant television. “You don’t have to pretend to be a decent person anymore. These people all know your secret now, too.” My voice is stoic and cold. I know it’s like a dagger straight to Lexi’s heart. I’ve never once in my life spoken to another person this way.
And of all people, I never thought I would speak to my best friend like this.
She deserves nothing but my contempt and hatred after what I learned about her tonight.
“Teagan, please,” she sobs and tries to grab my arm. I jerk away from her touch as if I’ve been burnt.
“Stay away from me, Lexi. I want nothing to do with you ever again,” I seethe, not caring that our audience is on pins and needles as they soak up the drama between us. “You might as well be dead to me.”
Lexi brings her hand to her mouth and gasps loudly, nearly falling to her knees before Capri catches her from behind.
“Teagan,” Capri pleads. “Don’t be like this. Let her explain.”
I scoff loudly as her betrayal cuts me deep to my core. “You’re just as guilty as she is, Capri. You knew what she was doing with Josh, and you kept it to yourself! How could you do that to me?” I ask her. Her face fills with hurt. “You can bury yourself right next to her because you’re both dead to me.”
My eyes sweep the room again, only this time I notice that I’m in a large, overly decorated sort of parlor room. There are paintings of every medium hanging on the deep burgundy paneled walls. Dark leather furniture is clustered in little sitting pods around the room. The windows are shut, but the cream velvet drapes have been pulled to the side with athick gold cord. I make my way to the closest one and stare out into the night sky, taking deep, calming breaths as I try to ground myself and my overwhelming emotions. The moonlight illuminates the garden below. I feel it calling to me.
Beckoning me.
Screaming my name.
Maybe that’s just the first sign that I’ve finally been truly and utterly broken by three of the people I trusted the most with my heart.
“Care to take that stroll now?” His voice is velvety and smooth, like a whisper on the wind, sending a chill up my spine.
I turn and see a hand, outstretched and waiting for me. I look up into those same tantalizing eyes that dazzled me earlier today. They are the deepest shade of blue, like the ocean’s waves during a brutal storm. There is mirth, joy, and mischief in them as they gaze into mine.
I’m hesitant to trust him, but when I see Lexi and Capri coming up behind him, I give that hesitancy no more room in my chest and place my hand in his. “Just take me away from here. Please.”
He turns and sees Lexi and Capri heading this way and raises his eyebrow in question.
