“So, what? I had sex with you once and you got pregnant? You think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re a man that came inside of me and filled me with his sperm. Do you need me to explain simple biology?” I ask.
“I need you to make fucking sense!” he snaps.
“I’m sorry, Mike. I didn’t mean to tell you here, like this. I swear I only came to this wedding because I wanted to know how you were. I wanted to see Matt and congratulate him on his new beginning. I didn’t want to tell you like this, but I’m telling the truth. You know I am,” I say earnestly.
“I think you’re full of shit,” Michael states before he walks out of the room and leaves me there all alone.
Well, that went well.
6 YEARS AGO
Michael isn’t in bed beside me when I wake up. I groan softly as I sit up, then bite back a scream when I see him in the corner of the room. He’s seated on a chair with a frown on his face—a sharp contrast to the pleasure and smile I saw there when he whispered dirty words in my ear last night.
“Serial killer much?” I snap when my heart rate returns to normal.
I pull the blanket up and cover my chest since I’m still naked.
“You need to leave, Christine,” he says. His voice is devoid of emotion.
I wasn’t expecting him to give me flowers or confess his undying desire but I also wasn’t expecting him to be so cold. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt.
“It’s not like I was planning on staying,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Good,” is all he says.
I stare at him.
“What’s going on, Michael? We’re not even going to talk about this? We had sex.”
“It was a mistake,” he retorts immediately.
Plop. That’s the sound my heart makes in my chest. It practically drops.
“What?” I whisper.
“Come on, Chrissy. You’re my brother’s girlfriend. What kind of asshole do you think I am?”
“Ex-girlfriend,” I correct sharply. “Matt and I aren’t together anymore.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that this is wrong.”
“Matt and I are over,” I say again.
“Doesn’t mean he’s not still in love with you.”
“He’s not. He told me he wasn’t.”
Michael lets out a sharp laugh.
“You’re smart, so I know that’s not it. What did you expect him to say, Chrissy? ‘I love you, please take me back.’ Of course not. He still has feelings for you. I knew that and I still slept with you. I feel like such as asshole. I’m sorry, but just leave, okay? I really need to be alone right now.”
He’s not looking at me as he says the words. His gaze is pinned on the floor and I realize there’s nothing I can say to salvage this conversation.
“You know what?” I ask, getting to my feet. I gather all my clothes in my hands. “Fuck you, asshole!”
His expression softens momentarily as he looks up at me. I glare at him one last time before I leave the room, and after putting my clothes on in the living room, I practically run away from the house. I know we made a mistake, and there’s a good chance Matthew will never forgive us if he finds out what we did. But that doesn’t make what Michael said to me hurt any less.