There’s a beat of silence.
“What, no snarky reply? Perhaps because you know I’m right?”
“Nah, I’m just trying to think of what I’ll say to the cops when I stick them on your ass for trespassing.”
“You wouldn’t.” She fails to conceal the worry in her voice.
“Last I checked, I still fucking hate you, so yes, I would.”
“But you didn’t always hate me, remember? At least, you didn’t hate everything about me. If I recall, you used to love the things I did with my tongue.”
Her admission knocks the wind out of me. She just said that. And Xavier heard the whole thing.
Oh. My. God.
I switch to “prevent further damage” mode, glancing at Xavier and feeling my stomach sink at the look on his face. He’s not mad.
Hell, he doesn’t even look surprised—maybe he already knew? But he does look disappointed.
“Just say the word and I’ll be happy to remind you just how much you liked it,” Brie teases.
“Get the fuck out,” Finn hisses.
“Your loss,” Brie scoffs, and I hear her heels rattle the floor as she walks away. I’m foolish enough to hope that Xavier is going to bite his tongue to save their friendship. That he’ll let her walk out of the house and confront Finn later, hopefully in private. But he’s apparently done with being the bigger person because he jumps out of his hiding spot the next second.
Oh, this is bad.
I don’t think twice, rushing to the entrance hallway and stepping into Brie and Finn’s line of vision. Shock colors Finn’s features when he sees the two of us standing there and puts the pieces together. I know he suspects that we heard the whole thing. But then Xavier turns his suspicions into hard facts.
Xavier looks Finn dead in the eyes. “By all means, keep going. What else do you love about my ex-girlfriend’s tongue?”
I’ve never seen Finn look so pale. He opens his mouth to speak but can’t find the words to say. Meanwhile, Brie doesn’t look nearly as remorseful as she should. To be honest, she almost looks…
Satisfied?
Like she’s enjoying this turn of events.
Holy shit, did she know?
She knew Xavier was listening, didn’t she?
“How many times?” Xavier asks, his voice void of emotion.
Finn cringes. “Xav, I…”
“How many fucking times?” Xavier snaps. The strange thing is he never once looks at Brie as he speaks. Because he’s not actually talking to her. It’s not her betrayal that hurts him. It’s Finn’s. It’s the fact that Finn, his oldest friend,could do that to him. Finn hesitates for a moment, an army of demons swirling in the backs of his eyes.
Then he caves. “Two.”
“When?” Xavier asks, and Finn knows better than to dodge his questions again.
“Last summer. After you left for camp.”
I know it was before me. I even cockblocked them on my first day working for Finn’s dad, but the reminder still hurts.
“Why?” Xavier starts to pace around the room. “Just… fucking why?”
“I can’t give you a good reason.” Finn takes a step toward his friend. “I was a piece of shit. Still am, to be honest, but I’m working on it.” Finn’s gaze drifts to me as he says the last part, and I get the sense that he’s giving me credit.