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Ali felt bile rising in her throat, fighting the sinking feeling that she knew where this was going.

“I don’t really remember how it happened. I get flirty and overly affectionate when I’m drunk. I think I flirted with her. She kissed me and then we were making out in my bed, my shirt was gone. She was unbuttoning my pants when my brain caught up with what was happening.”

A sob ripped out of her, but she choked it down. All Ali could do was wait as cold dread slid into place.

“I shoved her off of me. We started screaming at each other. I was distraught. I just did this terrible thing to my most favorite person in the entire world.” Lilah pressed her fists into her eyes. “But she acted like it was nothing. Like I was overreacting. She wasn’t sorry.”

Ali’s jaw tightened. “Of course not.”

Unsettling truth pieced itself together. It wasn’t just cheating. But control, skewed power dynamics. Victoria took advantage of the twenty plus extra years of experience, stacked against a drunk college girl who trusted her.

“So I told her to end it with Charlotte,” Lilah said, voice cracking. “I swore I would tell her what happened if she didn’t. I couldn’t let Charlotte marry someone like that.” Her breath shuddered out of her. “I’m the reason she left Charlotte.”

Each new piece Lilah revealed struck Ali right in the chest. But that last admission crushed and enraged Ali in equal measure. Bitterness hit the back of her tongue making her stomach roil. It felt all too familiar… and if time machines existed, she’d break physics just to erase Victoria from all of their lives.

“How’d it start up again?” Ali asked, keeping her voice calm. The cold had crept into her nose and fingers now, but she barely felt it.

“It was before the bridal shower.” Lilah’s fingers threaded through her hair, tugging at the roots. “She showed up at my apartment out of nowhere. Told me she was in love with me and she’d been waiting for me all this time but she couldn’t wait anymore.” Her breath hitched. “I was so confused. It came out of nowhere. But she said she broke up with Charlotte for me. And, she asked me to dinner.”

Words were pouring out of Lilah, rushing out of her one after the other, scrambling to get out after being trapped for far too long.

“But I said no. And she left.” She passed her hand over her face. “Then the flowers started. Presents at work. Sweet messages. Even love letters.” Lilah shook her head. “She just… wore me down. We went to dinner and somehow we were in a secret relationship I don’t really remember agreeing to. I thought it was casual. But then she started controlling everything. Asking me to do things. Changing her mind all the time. Nice one second, furious the next.”

Ali’s jaw tightened, noting the amount of concealer beneath Lilah’s eyes. Her hand squeezed Lilah’s knee, to help keep her rooted in reality.

“She called and texted me all through girls’ night. Told me to have fun then demanded I leave the second I got there. Bachelorette weekend she stormed off. I thought maybe I did something wrong. So I followed her.” Her voice broke on a hiccuped sob. “We got really drunk. She fucked me on the beach and left me out there. Alone. I’ve been trying to get her to leave me alone ever since.” Lilah gave a hollow laugh, looking toward the direction Victoria had vanished. “You saw how that’s going.”

White-hot rage came roaring back full force searing through her veins.

“I’m gonna break her nose,” Ali seethed. “It’s gonna happen. I’m so heated right now. She’s the fucking worst.”

Lilah peeked up, face puffy. “You don’t think I’m terrible?”

Ali softened, anger ebbing as she pulled Lilah into her arms.

“I think you made a mistake and she exploited it. I think she used you to get to Charlotte. And when that didn’t work…”

Lilah’s voice dropped to a fractured whisper. “She never actually cared about me… did she?”

Ali rubbed slow circles into her back. “I don’t think she’s capable of caring about anyone. But, if she left you on that beach where anything could happen, if she spoke to you the way she did… that’s not love.”

Little sobs shook Lilah’s shoulders. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

Ali held her a little tighter, chest aching in sympathy.

“Please, don’t call my friend an idiot. She doesn’t deserve it.”

Lilah pulled back, managing a half-hearted smile as she wiped her face. She opened her mouth to speak when a familiar voice called from the bottom of the stairs.

Both of them froze.

Lilah’s eyes went wide. She scrambled over the back of the patio sofa, landed in an awkward heap and disappeared into shadow, leaving Ali alone, heart pounding, scanning for somewhere—anywhere—to hide as she leapt to her feet.

She spun, ready to follow Lilah. Only it was too late.

“There you are,” Charlotte called, her tone so warm and relieved. “You’ve been gone for ages.”

Ali straightened her shirt before turning to face her, plastering on one of her dimpled smiles. But the way Charlotte’s expression faltered the moment her eyes landed on her made it clear… she already knew something was amiss.