Not able to contain the smile that I’m pretty certain is now permanently attached to my face, I make my way back inside and head for the kitchen. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch at school earlier today, and I am downright famished.
The kitchen is dark when I enter. I flip on a light, screaming when I catch sight of someone sitting at the table.
“Oliver! What the hell?” I flatten my palm to my chest. “You scared the hell out of me. Why are you sitting here in the dark?”
I take in his disheveled appearance. His wrinkled t-shirt. His messy hair. The dark circles under his eyes. I also don’t miss the glass in his hand that’s about half full of an amber liquid.
I can’t help but wonder what’s going on with him. He seems even more out of sorts than usual.
I try to remember if he looked this bad at school today, but truthfully, I can’t remember seeing him. Was he even at school?
“So he actually pulled it off.” His head bobs as he nods, an almost impressed look on his face.
“Huh?”
“You know, the sad thing is I was actually rooting for you.” He leans back further into the chair—his gaze locked on me as he swirls the liquid in his glass. “I didn’t think you’d go down quite so easy.”
“What are you talking about, Oliver?” My confusion quickly morphs into irritation.
“After all the shit we’ve pulled—Zayden and I—did you really think this was anything other than a game?” He empties his glass in one long pull before slamming it down on the table as he pushes to a stand. “You didn’t really believe that one minute he hated you and then suddenly,” he snaps his fingers, “Z has a thing for you?”
“I don’t…,” I start, but Oliver doesn’t let me finish.
“He said he could do it. But I gotta say, I didn’t think he could. Especially not this fast. I knew you were a virgin, after all. I figured it would take him at least a couple months to get into your pants, not
a couple weeks. I guess what they say is true. Like mother, like daughter.”
“Am I supposed to know what the hell you’re talking about?” My pulse is thrumming rapidly against the side of my neck.
“I guess not.” He snorts. “You would think after everything you’d be a little more careful. But alas, you let Z right on in. You let him fuck you for sport and clearly you had no idea that he’s been playing you this entire time.”
“Seriously?” Anger surges through me. “You expect me to believe that?”
“You don’t believe it?” He snickers. “How else do you think I would know that you were a virgin? Or that you two had sex for the first time tonight?”
“Well, considering you have zero boundaries or respect for other peoples’ privacy, I think there’s a few ways you could have known that information,” I fire back, refusing to let him ruin this night for me.
And even though I’m not willing to entertain what he’s saying, a part of me has always wondered why Zayden went from hating me to liking me, seemingly overnight.
“And what about this?” Oliver pulls his phone from his pocket and unlocks it, turning the screen to face me. On it is a single text message from Zayden.
I told you I could do it. Easiest bet I’ve ever won.
“That could mean anything.” My voice goes up an octave as doubt starts to creep in.
“Look at the time stamp.”
I lean in, looking closer.
“The message came through right as you were walking into the house,” he points out. “He didn’t even make it to the end of our street before letting me know of his conquest.”
“No.” The single word falls from my lips as disbelief and uncertainty starts to take hold.
“Yes.” Oliver smiles. “I bet my best friend that he couldn’t score your V card. He bet that he could. Looks like I lost. The sad thing is, you really thought this was real, didn’t you? You thought he actually cared about you.” He lets out a throaty laugh and it takes everything in me not to rear back and punch him in his smug face.
“He wouldn’t….”
“He wouldn’t do this to you?” He cuts me off. “Sorry to tell you, sis, but he already did.” His phone vibrates in his hand. “Oh, and there he is again.” His eyes scan the phone, his smile widening.