Page 85 of The Truth About Love

Despite being able to see the answer on my face, his brows shoot up in surprise at my candour. I’ve never been able to hide my emotions from him. He’s always had the ability to read me like a book no matter how hard I’ve worked to keep my secrets hidden. He’s always just been able to seeme in a way that no one else ever has, not even Winter.

“I bet you’re so happy, aren’t you?” He says, surprising me, his voice taking on a darker tone as he stalks towards me.

“N-no,” I stutter, instinctively leaning back into the soft cushions of the couch to put a slither more space between us.

“I bet you were beside yourself thinking I was breaking up with her, weren’t you? I saw you watching us. I saw the little smile on those lips when you heard her yelling at me.” His gaze falls to my lips and lingers there.

“No, Auden. Of course not.” I shake my head wildly.

But he carries on. “And now here you are, huh? Sitting here waiting for me to come home all so you can hear about what happened tonight.”

I say nothing because he’s right. That’s exactly what I’m doing.

He leans over me, bracing his hands on the back of the couch either side of my head.

“You want to know if she ended it? Or if we kissed and made up?” His face moves to my neck as he runs the tip of his nose along the long column of my throat. “Maybe we did more than that. Maybe we fucked, would you want to hear about that?”

I screw my eyes shut, white hot jealousy coursing through my veins and burning me from the inside out.

Did he really have sex with her?

I was so sure after the lie he told her that it’d be over between them. And yeah, maybe it makes me a bitch to have been happy about that, but after meeting her earlier tonight, it’s clear she’s not right for him anyway.

“Answer me,” he growls.

“No,” I whisper. “I don’t want to hear about that.”

He chuckles to himself, though it’s not his usual laugh. It’s a cruel sound. Taunting, deep and scornful.

“But you must have known when youset me free,” he rolls his eyes at that, “that I’d end up fucking other women. You couldn’t have thought I’d never touch another woman again. You want to know just how many women I’ve been with since you, Summer-Raine?”

My eyes burn.

God, I wish he’d stop talking like that.

I can’t even look at him.

Who even is he right now?

This isn’t the Auden I know with his warmth and kindness and sweet disposition. This man is harsh and cold, and I don’t recognise him at all.

“Stop,” I beg, a tear spilling down my cheek.

“Why should I?” he seethes. “It’s because of you that my relationship could be over, after all.”

My eyes fly open at that. I’m on my feet in a flash, barely giving him a chance to step back before I’m in his face and backing him against the wall of the living room.

“Don’t you dare.” I jab my finger into his chest. “Whatever’s going on in your relationship right now is your fault, Auden.Youwere the one who lied, so don’t you dare try and pass the blame over to me.”

He moves like a jaguar. Dark and fast as switches our positions, pinning me against the wall before I even have a chance to blink.

My heart thunders in fear as a low, dull ache begins to pulse between my legs.

His eyes are black, his teeth bared as he looms over me. He’s a predator and I’m his helpless prey.

But I don’t cower away or hide myself from his fury. Standing on my tiptoes to give me as much height as possible, I meet his blazing glare and match his fire with my own.

“It is your fault,” he roars. “It’s your fault that I couldn’t stop thinking about you enough to focus on my own girlfriend. It’s your fault that with every woman I’ve taken to bed since you left, it’s you that I’ve imagined beneath me. It’s your fault that I’m too hung up on my damn high school girlfriend to love Cara the way she wants me to. The way shedeservesme to. All of it, every single second of the pain, misery and suffering I’ve faced over the last five years is because of you.”

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