My brows rise at the unfiltered hate in his voice. I know she—we—hurt him. But shit. You’d think it would hurt less all these years later. He’s got River now, yet Faith’s betrayal seems to be as strong as the day he discovered the truth.
He believed her when she promised him forever. She was all he could see. Blinded by young love and the promises of a future that was never going to happen.
But she had him wrapped around her little finger, and she knew exactly what she was doing the night she got me wasted and made a move.
I should have seen through it. But I was young, dumb, drunk and horny.
And did I mention, fucking stupid?
“I’m not kidding, Styx. If you make contact with her, we’re going to be done for good. She ripped us apart once, do not let it happen again.”
“I won’t respond. I just… I wanted to give you a heads-up. You’re right, she’s the last person we need in our lives right now.”
“Anyone but her, Styx.” He sounds gutted, and guilt spreads through me.
It’s wrong, oh so fucking wrong, but I can’t deny as he says those words, a little bit of hope bubbles up inside me.
Anyone?
“You got it, just keep an eye out. If she’s calling then—”
“Let’s just pray she’s not that fucking stupid as to show her face around here again. The best thing she ever did was leave town.”
“Can’t agree more,” I mutter.
“Was that it, I really need to get back to—”
“Yeah. Me too. I just wanted you to know.”
“Appreciate it, man.”
The line goes dead before I get a chance to say anything else.
Lowering my cell, my heart lurches as I finally find a response from Ryder.
Jack Off: We’re out… having fun.
“Fucking cunt,” I hiss when another photo comes through of him kissing her.
Styx: I’m going to kill you.
Jack Off: Just give me like twenty minutes, yeah? I want to make sure she’s got plenty of mind-blowing memories of me first.
Styx: I fucking hate you.
“ARGH,” I bellow when all I get back are a string of kiss emojis.
Closing my conversation thread with Ryder, I open up Kat’s and shoot her a message instead.
Styx: I don’t get off until late tonight. Can I take you for breakfast before school in the morning?
Jack Off: You’re so fucking desperate, it’s embarrassing.
Jack Off: You’d think you’d have learned a thing or two from me after all these years. You have no game, man. ZERO.
Styx: She wasn’t complaining about my game last night.
Jack Off: Well, she’s pissed at you for something, so I can only assume you left her unsatisfied. Don’t worry though, man. I’ve got you covered. I’ll make sure I get her off good. If you listen really hard, you might even hear her screaming my name.