Page 128 of Stroke of Fate

Damn, can I be any more fucking lame?

“Hi, do you mind if I come inside?” Bear asks tentatively, like she’s afraid I might say no.

“Sure,” I nod, feeling the sting of how formal this feels. I miss the ease we used to have around each other. Even in the beginning, it was never like this with us. “The guys are here, but I can kick them out if you prefer?”

“We can’t see you, but we can still hear you,” Mack shouts, causing Bear’s smile to widen, and my heart thumps at the sight.

If it weren’t for me standing here right now, I’d have thought the damn thing had given up on me already.

Unfortunately, her smile fades quicker than I’d like. But when she peeks up at me from under her long lashes, her eyes look brighter.

“It’s probably better if they’re here for this conversation.”

I go from hopeful to worried in a heartbeat at her words. Swallowing thickly, I open the door for her—a silent invitation.

When Bear sees the guys, they greet her with the same enthusiasm as always. If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s that they’ll never make things awkward. Embarrassing? Always. But never awkward.

Maybe that’s why Bear asked them to stay. She’s about to put the final nail in the coffin of our relationship, and she wants them here for me when it happens.

We sit down on the couch, and I'm practically on the verge of hyperventilating. Bear keeps a careful distance between us, and my breathing becomes even more erratic. The unknown is killing me.

“Feel like joining us for a round of Snap, Bear?” Sam asks, tone laced with enthusiasm.

“Fuck, no, we’re putting a lid on that,” Mack grumbles, grabbing the cards and shoving them out of Sam’s reach.

Bear laughs softly, but I can’t even enjoy the sound with how tense I am.

“Thanks for the offer, Sam, but I’m here for a different reason.” Her eyes slide to me, and I try to smile, but whether my lips cooperate is hard to tell.

“Floor’s yours, Teddy Bear,” I murmur, low enough that only she can hear.

Bear sits up straighter, addressing all of us when she speaks. “I’ve been thinking a lot about Saturday night.”

If she didn’t have our attention before, she sure as hell has it now. I swear, no one dares to move or breathe too loudly as we wait to hear what she has to say.

“I don’t even know where to start, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning.” Her shoulders lift in a small shrug as she shifts to face me more than the guys. “When I found you at the beer pong table that night, I could tell you weren’t acting like yourself. You were still you, so it wasn’t enough to justify my paranoia but enough to notice it.”

“I felt it, too.” My throat is thick with emotion, but somehow, I get the words out. “I chalked it up to not eating enough or having a shitty tolerance, but I was way more out of it than I should’ve been.”

I’m a muscular guy, and I’m tall. I could shake off whatever I was feeling enough to walk in a straight line, but there was no doubt my head was spinning.

“I agree, but we were at a party. I thought you were drunk. And since we were leaving soon, I let you walk off without giving it a second thought.” Her smile is apologetic, but she keeps going before I can say anything. “Anyway, I kept telling myself that everything was fine. And then I couldn’t find you, and well, you know…” She frowns down at her lap.

She doesn’t have to fill in the rest. Everyone in this room knows how that night ended.

“I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am that you had to see that video.” My tone reeks of shame, but she needs to know how deeply this is cutting me up inside.

“The video is actually the reason I’m here,” she says, looking up, not a trace of anger in her tone. “Something about the whole thing seemed so scripted. How convenient that the person you were with was blonde and dressed like a ballerina? It’s almost like they wanted you to think it was me.”

“Holy shit, you’re right, Bear,” Mack speaks up. “I didn’t even think about it like that, but it makes sense. If they knew Levi, they’d know there’s no way he’d willingly go off with a girl who wasn’t you.”

I throw my friend a grateful glance, which he acknowledges with a nod. We’re not big on feelings in this group, but we’re loyal to a damn T.

“It was only a theory, but Pia and I, uh, watched the video again, and I spotted something I missed before.”

My stomach turns over itself, knowing she put herself through that again. Bear pulls out her phone, swipes at it a few times, and then hands it to me.

The image is zoomed in, but it’s clear that the girl in the video is wearing a wig. A few red strands peek out from underneath the fake blonde. My brows dip toward each other, and I try to hide my unease as I pass the phone to the guys, who take turns looking at it.

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