“Sure can.”
I go back to the kitchen to grab his phone from the island and see the missed call notification on the screen. I click on it, thinking I can tell Zander who it was who called, but whenthe call log comes up, my finger slips and I touch the voicemail button.
“Hey, Zander, this is the property manager’s office reaching out again. Hope all is well. Just a reminder that your apartment has been ready for over seven weeks now. If you have questions about the remaining time on your lease, please call us back to discuss.”
I freeze, blinking down at the phone as the voicemail comes to an end. Zander’s apartment has been ready forsevenweeks? I don’t understand. My stomach twists. Is he hiding something? Is that why he didn’t tell me? Part of me is happy that he’s stayed with me, but it doesn’t really make sense. Why wouldn’t he just tell me his apartment was ready? He could’ve invited me to stay there instead of continuing to live at Carson's place.
Does he not want me to see his place? Why?
Is there something wrong with me?
If he’s not willing to show me his home, then we’re obviously not as close as I thought we were, which means this so-called relationship is just a big fucking joke…
I shake my head, stopping my spiraling thoughts. No, no… I need to calm down. Zander wouldn’t think that nor do this on purpose. I’m just letting my paranoia get the better of me. He’s a good guy.
Phone in hand, I start down the hallway toward the bathroom. I glance down at it when another ping sounds, and nearly trip over my own feet in shock.
It’s a notification from Cloak. What the hell? I didn’t know he was on the app… and why the fuck is he still getting notifications?
Mind buzzing, I can’t stop myself from opening the app to see what bitches are messaging him, but when I look in his mailbox, the world comes to a grinding halt.
That’s… that’s my profile name.ClickTease.
Then I realize what his profile name is -GlideControlZ.
What the fuck?
I scroll through the messages, and they’re all there. Every conversation we’ve had. All the vulnerable things I’ve shared with him. All the things I’ve been feeling about… him. About Zander!
This can’t be real, can it? Zander can’t be the guy I’ve been chatting with all these months. That would be too insane of a coincidence!
He wouldn’t keep this from me. He wouldn’t! I told him… I told him I wouldn’t do lies and secrets.
Has he been using this to fuck with me? Manipulate me?
I feel the blood drain from my face so fast, I get dizzy. At that moment, the bathroom door opens and Zander steps out with a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Hey, who was calling me?” he asks, but then stops when he sees the look on my face. “You okay, Rylee?”
Hand shaking, I raise the phone and show him the screen with our messages on display.
“Did you know this was me?” I ask in a soft, shaking voice.
Please say no. Please, please, please God, say he didn’t know.
To my horror, though, he sighs and drops his gaze from mine.
“I… I knew,” he murmurs. “I figured it out a while back.”
I stare at him, stunned. It feels like something is shattering inside me and so many emotions rush through me all at once it’s difficult to sort through them.
So I latch onto the one that’s making the most sense - betrayal.
He’s just like the rest of them - just another man lying to me. Using me. Taking advantage of my vulnerabilities and feelings to get what he wants out of me.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me?” I cry, furious tears filling my eyes. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Zander?”
“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry,” he stammers. “When I realized you wereClickTease,everything changed. I didn’t want the internet version of us… I wanted the real one. I just wanted to give us more time. I wanted you to get to know me as Zander before I told you, because I was already falling for you… ”
