Page 149 of Mad Girl

I’d meant to cut you with those words—and it worked. You flinched.

“And by the way,” I added, “I can share a bed with a guy without it leading to anything. Like in the case of Michael, who I’ve been sharing a bed with my whole life.”

“Funny you should mention Michael,” you said, holding my gaze, “because I’ve been meaning to ask you about something.”

“What’s that?”

“The flower earring Sienna found at his place when she accused him of cheating that time. It was yours.”

My heart lurched. You’d just unearthed an incident from nearly a year ago, catching me by surprise. For a few seconds, I couldn’t speak. “Sounds more like an accusation than a question,” I said finally.

“Am I wrong?”

I wanted to lie. But I still felt bad about lying to you back then. “No,” I whispered. “It was mine. How did you figure that out?”

“Sienna told me you met with her after the incident and confessed to sneaking over there that day.”

Damn. Sienna was even more conniving and vindictive than I thought. Was this payback for Michael breaking up with her?

“Yes,” I said. “I wanted to fuck with her stuff, but Michael caught me. Clearly, the earring fell out at some point.”

“How?” The intensity behind your gaze made my chest burn.

“I don’t know how. I didn’t even notice it missing until later that night.”

“She believes Michael lied about bringing another girl home to keep you from being in trouble with me.”

“He did. There was never another girl.”

You scoffed at this. “So he lied to protect you, even if it meant allowing Sienna to think he cheated on her?”

“We keep each other’s secrets. No matter what. He and I—Bree, too—we always have each other’s backs. But I didn’t want Sienna to think that about him, so I told her the truth.”

“She believes your story to be a ruse—to hide what really happened between you and Michael. She believes he wouldn’t allow her to think he cheated unless he actually did cheat on her.” Your jaw ticked. “With you.”

Even though I knew myself to be innocent—of this accusation, anyway—my heart pounded so hard I shook with it. “And what do you believe, Casey?”

“I don’t know what to believe. All I know for sure is, you’ve snuck off to Michael’s three times now—that I know of.” You paused here, gaze steady on mine. “Which means you’ve made a habit out of lying to me.”

Tears pricked my eyes.

In a voice so quiet it pierced the back of my throat, you asked, “Did you sleep with him?”

“I have a better question,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “What makes you think you have any right to ask me that?”

“I don’t have the right. But I’d still like to know the answer.”

“Why? What does it matter to you?”

I wanted you to say it mattered because I mattered. Because you didn’t want me with him any more than I wanted you with Sienna—or anyone else.

But you only continued to hold my gaze for an uncomfortably long time before saying, “I guess it doesn’t matter. Forget I ever asked. Let’s just…forget this whole conversation ever happened.”

“Happily,” I said, yanking on my covers.

You stood. “I should be going, anyway. You need your rest for school tomorrow.”

I turned my back to you, hoping the darkness had concealed the tears in my eyes.