Hayley blows her nose. “He came up on us fighting and told Liam he’d walk me back to the dorm. We were talking, and he asked what was wrong. And that’s when he w
as like I saw him pick up Jackie. God, Liri, I lost it. I went looking for her, but she’s hiding like a coward.”
“Put your shoes on.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I am taking you to Liam and you are going to get your answers one way or the other. Even if I have to beat the truth out of him.”
“Okay.” She sniffles. “He doesn’t understand why I am upset. He says I should take his word and not question any of it. Like how does that even make sense, Liri?”
“I don’t know but we are going to see what he has to say for himself.” I nod at her and start to text Killian but think better of it. I don’t want him to warn Liam so he can run and hide too. It takes her a few minutes to get herself together enough to leave. Killian has sent me two messages, but I haven’t checked them yet because I don’t want to lie to him about where I am. Hayley needs to see Liam and find out what he is doing behind her back.
We get to the house and Killian and Liam’s vehicles are here. Hayley marches through the front door without knocking. A bunch of the guys are sitting around the big screen in the living room playing games. We find Liam, Killian, Woodrow, and Porter out by the firepit with Jackie. She has on an oversized sweatshirt and is drinking straight from a bottle of liquor. I bet she doesn’t have one true friend who isn’t some random guy she has fucked. Killian perks up when he sees me but then he sees Hayley and he frowns. I have an ominous sensation swirling in the depths of my stomach.
“I was trying to text you.”
“Sorry. I was driving.”
“We need to talk.”
“Yeah sure. Right after Liam gives Hayley the respect she deserves and tells her where he was last night.”
Killian grabs my hands and Liam looks apologetic. “Liri, I can explain everything. That’s why Jackie is here, but I wanted to talk to you before Liam said anything to Hayley.”
I try to jerk out of his grasp. “Why?”
“Because he was doing me a favor.”
“What’s that have to do with Jackie?” I look over and she smirks at me enjoying the show.
“He took me to the clinic to get an abortion,” Jackie announces, waving the liquor around. It sloshes out the top and splatters on the ground like my heart. She doesn’t need to say anything more. I am on the verge of a major freak out.
“I told her I would give her a ride, but I wanted to be with you, so I asked Liam. Jackie didn’t want everyone to know her business, and Liam swore he wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Is that your only involvement?”
“Yes,” he swears, but I hear Jackie laugh.
I look at her and she says, “Except you forgot that you paid for it.”
My throat goes dry and I feel a panic attack about to come on. “Was it yours?”
“Was what mine?” I can see the confusion in his eyes, but he isn’t going to play dumb to get out of this conversation.
I jerk away from him. “Don’t touch me.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, Liri.”
“Didn’t do anything wrong? You could have told me!” I shout.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.” My brows knit in confusion. I don’t know why this hurts me so deeply. I knew he had slept with her before I came into the picture, but my heart feels cracked in two right now.
“I can’t be around you right now.”
“Why? I’m giving you the honest truth.”
“Because you fucked her, and I hate her for it, and I hate you for it too.” Tears slide down my cheeks in rapid succession. I can’t even look at him right now. What kind of guy is he? Does he think an abortion is the answer to fucking around with random girls? I try not to judge people for their choices, but I can’t handle this. It’s too much. It hurts too much. I feel like he cut my heart out of my chest and split it into a thousand pieces right now.