“What?” I yanked my arm out of her grip and laughed. “That I needed you to what? Comfort me? Make me feel better?”
She bit her lip, trying to look all innocent. Attempting to appear that she gives a shit instead of some fucked up thing spiraling in her mind.
“I just wanted to talk. You looked upset and I—”
“No. You saw me pissed off and you thought you could swoop in and get what you always want. Well, newsflash, Nicole, I am not fucking interested. I have never fucking been interested in you.”
“We had fun before—”
“Fun?” I stepped closer, and she actually looked excited for a second as if I was going to change my mind. “You want to know what you were to me? You were a wet hole for my cock when I was bored. That is all you ever were. A distraction. And not even a good one.”
Her face went pale, all that fake confidence draining away. Good. Maybe now she’ll finally get it through her thick fucking skull that I’m not interested.
“And just so we are crystal fucking clear, I will never fuck you again. Not now that I have had better.”
I saw it click. The exact moment she figured it out. The shock first, her eyes widening. Then that damn smirk spreading across her face like she just got handed the juiciest piece of gossip this school has seen all year.
“Lola,” she breathed, and the name sounded like poison coming out of her mouth. “Oh my god, Lola Bellamy.”
“Stay the fuck away from me, Nicole.” My voice came out low. “I mean it. You’re so pathetic you cannot take a fucking hint.”
“You are such an ass—”
“Yeah, and you’re a clingy bitch who needs to learn that no means no. Now we both understand where we fucking stand.”
I turned and walked away, leaving her standing there with her mouth open and that calculating look in her eyes that told me she was already planning her next move.
“Fuck you, Jace.” she yelled after me.
“Already did that. It wasn’t that memorable.”
I have replayed that moment over in my head a hundred times since I walked away from her. And every time, I’m fucking certain that is not the end of it.
Nicole is the kind of person who won’t let this slide. Her ego won’t tolerate it. Girls like Nicole never back down. And the fact that it is Lola, well, that’s really going to eat at her.
I place the bottle back on the crate and lean back in the chair, my head resting against the worn cushion.
My eyes find the photo again sitting in my lap, mocking me.
And then the door to my trailer swings open. I jerk upright, my hand instinctively grabbing the photo and moving it beside myleg, so that whoever the fuck is coming in doesn’t get to see this part of me.
It’s Bells, standing in the doorway like some kind of fever dream I have conjured up from too much whiskey and not enough sleep.
The cold air rushes in behind her, but she doesn’t seem to notice, or she’s too pissed to care.
Bells steps inside and slams the door shut. Her eyes are filled with anger and I can see the hurt on her face.
I sit forward on the couch, carefully slipping the photo into the side cushion where she won’t see it. So she doesn’t ask questions I do not know how to answer.
“What the fuck do you want?” I ask, my voice coming out harsh, because it is easier this way than to tell her the truth.
“What do I want?” She storms closer, getting right in my face. “I want to know why you have been acting like a complete fucking asshole. Why you have been ignoring me?”
“Maybe I have been busy.”
“Busy?” She lets out a harsh laugh. “That’s bullshit. You’ve been avoiding me and we both know it.”
I shrug and reach for the bottle on the crate even though I don’t need another drink.
