Page 86 of Trustfall

“Where is she?” he stammers, and I don’t know if it’s because of the cold, the alcohol, or fear.

“You don’t get to know that,” I say calmly.

“Look, I don’t know what she told you, but Emory is dramatic. You know how girls can be. You slip up one time, and they never let it go.”

“No, I don’t know,” I say, keeping my voice steady, while inside, my blood is on fire.

He bursts out laughing and his whole demeanor shifts, his attempts at self-preservation tossed aside. Now he looks menacing, even diabolical, like the villain from a Gothic novel.

“You know, she bled a lot the first time,” he says casually as if he’s discussing the weather. “Not that I really cared. Just one of the inconveniences of fucking a virgin. The bleeding, I mean. You ever fuck a virgin, Luke?” he asks, but doesn’t wait for a response. “They cling to you. Like goddamn bacteria. Normally, it’s annoying as all hell. But when you’re trying to get someone to fall in love with you, it’s actually quite advantageous.”

Nausea rolls through my stomach, but I swallow it down.

“Anyway, she bled all over my sheets, and then she cried because she was embarrassed. And I told her it was okay. I told her I would get new ones. I told her it was worth it. I told her everything she wanted to hear. And you know what? She believed me. She trusted me. Some girls will believe anything if you look them in the eyes while you’re fucking them. Guess she didn’t know any better. But that wasn’t my problem, was it?”

I take a step toward him, but he doesn’t back away. He keeps talking like we’re two old friends catching up.

“I was her first, Luke. Her first everything. I broke her. And you know what that means? It means I’m the only one that can put her back together. You can profess your love to her. You can tell her you’ll never do the things that I did. But she’ll never love you. She’ll never trust you. She’ll never trust any man. I made sure of that.”

I know what he’s doing. I know exactly what the fuck he’s doing. I also know he’s lying through his teeth. He may have taken her virginity, but he definitely was not her first everything. And she trusts me. Regardless, I play into his game like a fucking dumbass. I close the distance between us and punch him in the face, the sickening crunch of cartilage echoing as he rears back, blood pouring from his nose.

He holds it, blood dripping out of the spaces between his fingers, but he doesn’t come at me or fight back. He lets out a low laugh. “That all you got?” he taunts. “I’ve been getting my ass beat since I was six. You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

He’s distracting me.

“You will stay away from her,” I bark. “You will lose her number. You will keep her name out of your fucking mouth. You will go back to California or wherever the fuck part of this country you haunt. You go near her again, and I won’t stop Nate. Next time, I’ll hold you down while he guts you like the piece of shit you are.”

He lets go of his nose and blood seeps down to his teeth as his lips curl into a macabre grin. “Okay, okay,” he says. “Just…calm down, man.” His tone doesn’t match the sinister look on his face, and I don’t know what game he’s playing now, but I said what I came here to say. Nothing good can come from engaging with him further.

I go to get on my bike, but he speaks again, his tone completely changed from before. “You think you’re better than me, but you went through her phone,” he calls out. “You waited until she was asleep and then you looked through her contacts. And when you couldn’t find my name, you looked through her conversations until you found one that looked like it was with me. Then you pretended you were her to lure me here. You went behind her back to threaten me. Just like Nate did. Bet she didn’t take that news too well, did she? Wonder how she’ll feel about what you just did.”

“I don’t have to wonder because unlike you, I won’t keep secrets from her.”

“Of course you won’t, Luke. You’re the perfect guy,” he taunts. “You may be what she wants right now, but you’re not what she needs long-term.”

Long-term? If he’s even insinuating what I think he is…I stalk back over to him. “Maybe I wasn’t super fucking clear before,” I say, grabbing him by the shirt collar. “If I find out that you have even thought about Emory, I will end your life. No one will be there to save you.” To drive my point home, I grab his shoulders and knee him in the stomach. He doubles over and falls to the floor, groaning. I kick him in the chest two more times and watch as he coughs and sputters blood. I have to stop. If I don’t, I’ll do real damage, and this isn’t me.I’m not violent.

I shove my helmet on, kick my leg over the seat of my bike, and peel out of the parking lot. I need to get home to Emory. I need to explain this to her before she finds out. I meant what I said. I’ll try my best to keep the jealousy at bay and not act like a fucking caveman all the time around her. But I couldn’t let this go. I couldn’t let him get away scot-free. And if she hates me for going through her phone, we’ll get through it.

We have to.

I can’t lose her.

When she ran away from the gazebo last night, I realized something. When she put on a brave face and told me her story, I felt it again. And when I held her and made her come repeatedly until she fell asleep in my arms, I knew it without a shadow of a doubt. It’s something I’ve known for a long time but have been too scared to admit to myself.

I am insanely andirrevocablyin love with Emory Caldwell.

30

EMORY

There’san incessant pounding in my head. God, what is that? Make it stop. I only had like two glasses of champagne last night. I’m still in that state between sleep and consciousness, and this godforsaken pounding won’t stop. As I try to will it to stop, the mattress moves, and I hear the sound of retreating footsteps.

Luke. Where is he going?

The banging continues and I realize it’s not coming from my head. It’s the door. I start to come to and hear voices. I can’t make out everything because Luke must have closed the bedroom door behind him. Just parts of words and phrases.

“Lucas Collins,” someone says.

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