My mother’s disappointment was apparent, but for once in my fucking life, I cared more about something else than her approval. She breathed fire through her nostrils, then turned on her heel, disappearing back into the party.
I climbed the stairs to go to the alcove, my haven. How messed up was it that my one safe place was still intertwined with him? I let this happen. It was my fault. I opened myself up. He’d told me explicitly what he was going to do.
I pulled out my phone and texted him. I wanted one last chance for him to explain. To tell me everything was a misunderstanding.
You told my mom about my box?
I waited.
Three dots appeared and disappeared.
Why would you do that? Why would you go behind my back and spill all of my secrets?
Another three dots, and they vanished just as quickly.
Did you really kiss her?
Betrayal coursed through my veins, acrid and searing, and I asked the question I really wanted to know.
Did you plan this from the beginning? All of it?
Another three dots appeared. I was certain they would vanish, but I received a response: a photo. Whatever hope I had vanished with it, shattered into a million pieces.
No. No, no, no.
It was a selfie. He was grinning and appeared to be naked, but the selfie cut off just at the hard, muscular vee pointing down to his cock. It was lewd and sexy and suggestive.
The way he held the phone, I could clearly see behind him. He was in a bedroom, and I recognized it.
I spun around, looking behind me, then back at my phone.
It was the guest bedroom just a few feet down the hall.
On the bed, the dress Gemma’d had worn tonight was wrinkled. What removed all of my doubt—the silver-gray lingerie only Gemma wore was scattered on the hardwood. I nearly dropped my phone.
I told myself I wouldn’t fall for Theo.
Love is ephemeral, conditional. Love can be withdrawn. Love is a fucking lie. It happened anyway. And here was the proof. The minute I believed I could have something real, where we used to drink and make fun of everyone, where we spilled our hearts, Theo fucked my sister just feet away.
He sent me only these words along with the picture: “Come find me, sweet girl.”
Theo was waiting for me with one arm propped on the doorway.
Totally, unfairly naked.
“What did you do?”
I looked into his eyes, but there was none of the warmth I’d seen radiating these past few weeks. Cold, cruel Theo was back. The one who ripped away my grandfather, who’d promised to make me regret my love.
His grin was crooked, and he pulled off the condom still on his semihard dick, tossing it to the ground. “I don’t know. What did I do, Reject?”
My eyes landed on the condom.
No.
“Did you really sleep with her?” I hated how my voice shook.
The past was coming back in a wave of nausea.