Disgust plagues me as I turn away, not willing to breathe another word to him as my heart continues breaking.
“Ruby,” he growls, jogging back up behind me.
“Fu—”
“Yeah, I know. Fuck me. You have every right to be pissed, but I can’t let you walk away, because I know you’ll never speak to me again.” He takes a long breath that echoes in my ears, mingling with the sound of my own painful heartbeat. “I triple dare you to forgive me.”
That has me stumbling to a halt as fury burns through me.
“That’s low, Corbin. But you can still go fuck yourself. No way am I falling for that.”
“It’s my turn. It’s a dare never used before. And unless you want to hand over your box, you have no choice but to forgive me.”
He lets me walk away this time as I fume and cry the short walk back to my apartment. He really would take my box and read everything I’ve written. I know him. He’d dig up my various homes to look for it.
Every damn secret I’ve ever put in there since puberty is about him. About how much I love him. About all the psychotic daydreams I’ve had. They might not have included white picket fences, but they definitely included a happily-ever-after sort of ending for us.
At least now the illusion has been shattered.
Picking up my phone, I send him a text when I get home. My stomach roils, but I type the words, not feeling the slightest bit of conviction behind them. But pride overcomes heartache. I refuse to let him know how much he’s owned me all these years after witnessing how little of him I’ve owned in return.
Me: I forgive you.
I put my phone down, ignoring it when it rings immediately. No way am I listening to what he has to say right now. I need a few weeks before I start pretending as though I didn’t love the bastard who just destroyed me.
When it dings with a text, I read it.
Corbin: I’ll give you one week to talk to me. Then I’m coming by. If you don’t speak to me, I expect to have your box.
If I was capable of hating him, I would in this moment. Instead, I still love the jerk who is trying to bully me into forgiving him. Just like every time before, I’ll have to go back to pretending like friendship is good enough.
But this time, I don’t even want to be his friend. Maybe I’ll change my mind after the painful newness has worn off.
I could always destroy the secret box. Then he’d have nothing to hold over my head. But that almost feels like it would be the same betrayal he dished out tonight.
It also means I’d be severing my one and only link to Corbin Sterling.
I’ve never wished to be someone else as badly as I’m wishing it right now.
Taking a deep breath, I silently go over my options for hours. Finally, I come up with the only inevitable conclusion and solution.
I can be his friend.
I can move on.
And I can get over Corbin Fucking Sterling once and for all.
I have to.
CHAPTER 4
RUBY
“You’re zoning out,” Rain reminds me, and I snap out of my thoughts.
What were we talking about?
I wasn’t expecting Rain to show up, and I ended up going through my sacred box of secrets right before she arrived. Those secrets always get to me.
I discreetly wipe my eyes as the memories subside, creeping back down into the dark corner where I keep them buried. I hate talking about this, because it always dredges up things that are better left forgotten.
Somehow I did move forward. Corbin and I survived the nastiest breakup in the world, and we remained friends. Even though it was never like it was before. Everything changed after that. Ground rules were put into place, and boundaries were set up to remind us we were just good as friends and nothing else.
“These secret boxes of yours,” she says, pointing to the box with a lock on it that I haven’t hidden yet, “what are they?”
“They’re secrets. And I’m not being a smartass. I mean they’re literal secrets.”
“So the end goal of triple-dog daring each other is to get each other’s secret box?”
My eyebrows go up. “Triple-dog dare? Please,” I scoff with a dismissive wave of my hand. Then, with a completely serious face, I add, “We’re not that immature. It’s just triple dare.”
I wink at her as she laughs, and I kick up a floorboard I’ve been struggling to get up. Finally.
“How do they work?”
“We have rules. If I complete a dare, Corbin has to put a secret in the box and vice versa. We can only triple dare something once. For instance, I tripled dared him to jerk that guy’s pants down on New Year’s, so I can never triple dare him to do that again. It’s a one and done deal. If the dare isn’t completed, the defaulter has to turn over their secrets.”