“You want to know why I did it.”
And the cherry on top?
He’s right.
“Go ahead, ask me,” he challenges, never tearing his eyes away from me. My thoughts completely out of whack, I clear my throat and give in to his request.
“Okay. Why’d you sleep with Brie?”
He doesn’t speak for a few seconds.
“Because I could.”
My breath catches in my throat.
“I did it because if I can’t have my own father’s respect and he can, you best fucking believe I’ll take everything else.”
He’s talking about Xavier Emery, isn’t he?
Something breaks in his eyes right then.
Something he never wanted me to see.
I’m at a loss for words, desperately trying to process his admission. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to be waiting for a reply because he chugs another sip of whiskey and dries his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I slept with my best friend’s girl to get revenge on something he didn’t even mean to do,” he adds. “Now, tell me that isn’t the most fucked-up thing you’ve ever heard…”
It is one of the most fucked-up things I’ve ever heard.
It’s vile.
And awful.
And unforgivable.
So, why am I not repelled?
Why am I not horrified?
If anything, his coldhearted betrayal makes him all the more intriguing to me. I want to know how his brain works, what happened to him that day on the lake. Why he feels the need to convince himself that he’s a lost cause.
But mostly, I want to see how far he can go…
Before the whole world believes it, too.
“The worst part is, I’d take a fucking bullet for this guy.” Finn huffs out a bitter laugh. “I’d die for him. He’s like my brother. And yet… there’s a part of me that hates him.”
The urge to ask him a question consumes me.
But I’m scared of his answer.
I keep my eyes on the ceiling, aiming to fill up on courage until I realize I might not have a choice but to get it in liquid form.
“Fuck it,” I whisper to myself and rise to my feet.
I head straight for Finn sitting on the window and rip the bottle of whiskey out of his hands. His eyes grow at my initiative, but he doesn’t speak, watching me trail back to the leather sofa. I’ve never had strong liquor before. I had fruity wine at my aunt’s wedding once, but that’s as far as it’s ever gone.
It’s not that I don’t want to drink.