“Yes.” And with that one word, our futures have changed entirely.
CHAPTER 18
Silas
Shouting wakes me.
Loud. Male. Furious.
My eyes snap open, and Tania stirs beside me, disoriented.
More shouting from downstairs.
Ben.
I’m moving before I’m fully conscious. I’m only wearing sweatpants, and my bare feet are hitting the cold hardwood. floor
“Stay here.” I don’t look back at Tania, and I don’t wait for her to answer.
I rush toward the living room, where the shouting is coming from.
The yelling gets louder.
“—fucking unbelievable! You think I wouldn’t find out?”
I round the corner into the living room.
Ben’s pacing with his phone in his hand. Callum and Evan stand near the windows, both fully dressed like they’ve been up for hours.
Callum’s arms are crossed. Defensive. Evan’s hands are loose at his sides, but his shoulders are tight.
Ben sees me. Everything stops. His face changes. Rage sharpening into something colder.
“You.” He takes a step toward me. “You. I trusted you.”
Ice spreads through my chest.
“Ben—”
“Don’t.” He holds up his phone. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”
He taps the screen and turns it toward me.
It’s the paparazzi footage from when Tania and I kissed outside of the gala. And now that I am actually seeing it for the first time, it’s not the brief, camera-friendly version I told myself it was.
In the video, my hand slides up her bare back, and her mouth opens under mine. And that kiss is anything but chaste. For just one moment, while the cameras were flashing, I forgot we were being watched.
“I told you.” My voice is steady, even though my pulse isn’t. “I told you they asked for a kiss.”
“Nobody kisses like that unless it’s real.” Ben is breathing hard. “Don’t insult me by pretending this was for show.”
I don’t answer. Neither does Callum. Neither does Evan. The silence is the confession.
Footsteps sound from behind me.
No. Fuck. Don’t come in here, Tania.
But I already know she will.
