Not ridiculous, after all.
Turns out Tristan really is the liar I thought he was from the beginning. He really is a Marvel villain. The thought of him leaving me last night only to invite Harper over immediately after makes my stomach roil. Here I was replaying his words in my head.“You’re precious to me.”
And that same night, he fucked Harper.
I’m not precious to him. It really must all be a prank. How could he look at me with stars in his eyes and kiss me tenderly only to fuck someone else that same night? And not just anyone, but Harper.
After all our history, he knows how much it would hurt me if I ever found out something like that, and last night, he said he’d rather die than hurt me.
He’s a liar.
My revenge plan is back on. There’s no way I’m going to allow myself to be humiliated in front of the entire school. No. I’m going to take Tristan down first.
I stand up from my desk and start pacing the floor. He won’t be expecting me to fuck him and leave him, not when he’s pretending to want “something” after the game is over. His plan really must be what I suspected all along. He wants me to fall forhim so it will be that much more devastating when he doesn’t pick me in the end. I wouldn’t just be losing a ten K scholarship then.
I’d be losing him too.
He knows how utterly charming he is. He knew he could win me over.
He almost did. Because I’m a fool. But he won’t get the satisfaction of seeing me blindsided and hurt.
I rush to my bed and grab the phone buried in the comforter. It takes me only a moment to pull up our text thread.
Me: Can I come over tomorrow night? We can cuddle and watch Poldark
A giggle escapes from my chest, but then Harper’s shaken voice echoes in my head. She was really hurt, and even after all she’s done, I shouldn’t be mocking her by choosing Poldark of all shows as the background soundtrack while I fuck her deceitful lover’s brains out. Tristan might even show her this text. Cruel and jaded as they both are, she probably knows that he’s planning to have sex with me as part of his plan to take me down.
Oh well. It’s done.
Tristan responds within thirty seconds.
Him: I love that idea. I’ll get popcorn.
Vengeful glee bubbles up inside of me.
Me: Make sure you have condoms.
Blinking dots appear at the bottom of the screen, and I smile. He’s probably baffled by my candor.
Him: How about you come over now?
A cackle escapes my chest.
Me: I’ll be over in 30.
Him: It’s going to be the longest half hour of my life.
My stomach flips over as I toss my phone on the bed. This is good. If I get this over with now, I can harness my anger to ward off the anxiety. I might not be good in bed, but it doesn’t matter. He’s not pursuing me for good sex.
But maybe I can give him wild, angry sex. Ride him and scratch his back and scream. And when I leave in the middle of the night, he’ll wonder who this shy little nerd really is, and why she wasn’t fragile enough to be cracked.
He has no clue that I’ve known all along that he’ll never give me that scholarship. What will he think of a girl so thoroughly bored with him in bed that she gives up ten thousand dollars just to get away from him?
He’ll hate it. I’ll bet no one has ever told him he’s boring in bed before, and someone who thinks he’s a god will probably become frantic trying to figure out what went wrong.
He’ll never know. And the mystery will haunt him for years to come.
CHAPTER 22
