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“You are such a big pussy you have to hide behind your little sister’s skirt, pretty boy?” I taunt him.

My ribs hurt like a bitch, and the bruise is already forming there, so I slowly slide into the other recliner, holding back the wince. It’s the pride. I won’t let him see he’s done more damage than what can be seen on the surface. Reaching for the can, I pop the lid open and take one long swallow.

“Booooys,” Andrew drawls out slowly, rolling his eyes at us.

“What?” Max shrugs innocently. “Anette didn’t take kindly to his messing with my handsome mug.” His fingers softly touch damaged skin. “And I like to give her her fair share of fun every once in a while. She’s less bitchy that way.”

“Less bitchy? I’d like to see that.”

He gives Drew a hard stare. “We didn’t come here to talk about Anette.”

“Then why are you here? I don’t remember inviting you.” I look between the two of them. “Any of you.”

“Do I look like I give a shit?” Max groans as he shifts to get in a more comfortable position on the couch. “You’ll be thanking me by the end of the night.”

“Hardly.” The desire to laugh out loud at his self-confident statement is big, but I manage to muffle the sound.

Bracing my hands on the armchair, I start to get up, but his next words make me rethink my decision. “I don’t think you did it.”

“Did what?” My eyes narrow at him, and I sit back down.

“I don’t think you were messing with that girl behind Amelia’s back.”

This time I laugh, but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. “Now you believe me? After you deliberately didn’t let me talk to Amelia just a couple of hours ago and now we are banished from her house?”

“Hey, I never said I was smart. I’m the pretty twin, remember?”

“Right, go figures. I always get stuck with stupid people.” This time I get off of the couch. “If that’s all, you can go now.”

“Don’t be a dick. Sit down and tell us how you got yourself in this shit anyway.”

I run my hand through my already messy hair and walk to the window.

It’s dark outside, only the frail light of the moon illuminates the backyard and I can hear the soft howl of the wind from the outside.

“You may think I’m a dick, and you would be right, but Amelia… She’s something special. She always was.” I swallow hard and my hands grip the windowsill. “She reminds me of the fire: light, bright, caring. Sometimes, when we were younger, she would look at me, or smile, and I’d feel ten feet tall. And she started to do it again. She just started to look at me like that again.”

I gulp down my nervousness, drying my sweaty hands against my pants. My back is still turned to my friends, and I can feel their eyes on me, waiting for me to continue.

Opening up and sharing my feelings … it has never been my thing. I feel like a pussy, but I don’t want to suppress those words. I don’t want to make what Amelia and I had … what Amelia and Ihaveseem cheap because it’s not. She’s so much more. Deserves so much more. And for her, I’ll try to be a better person. A betterman.

“Of course something shitty had to happen then. We just returned from the away game last Saturday. I texted her the day before to come to my house that afternoon to work on our project, which was actually just a ploy to get her to my house while my folks were out. Getting pizza, watching movies and a little bit of making out. It was supposed to be like that. Simple. Easy.” I shift uncomfortably, turning to look at them.

“I came home, and I went straight to the bathroom. I just had enough time for a quick shower before she was supposed to show up. I got out of the shower and heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it was her and that she probably waited for me a while, I just put that damn towel around my waist and went down. You can imagine my surprise when I opened the door and saw Diamond’s friend’s there. She squealed and jumped at me, almost knocking me to the floor. When I finally got her off of me and out of my house, I explained that it was some kind of mistake and I didn’t invite her to my house. Although, she swears she got my message. Then she playfully told me not to worry and that we could hang out next time before she plastered her lips all over mine, just when Amelia came out of her car. Too much of a coincidence don’t you think?”

Thinking about it made me angry all over again.

I know Diamond is messed up and she promised me she would get back at me for brushing her off. Maybe I deserved it, for all of my asshole behavior up until that moment, but Amelia didn’t deserve it. It makes my blood boil that, at the end of the day, Amelia was hurt the most by the whole situation.

Seeing her hurt and with tears in her eyes was like a punch to my gut.

No amount of Sanders’ boxing skills could hurt as much as seeing her broken like that. I guess Diamond did get her revenge in the end: her scheme hurt Amelia, which in return hurt me. Two birds in one stroke.

“So it was just Diamond playing games with both of you?” Sanders’ voice breaks me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah.” I nod my head. “A while ago we hooked up and she thought that made us a ‘thing’. I kindly explained to her we weren’t, which she didn’t take well.”

“That bitch…”

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