Page 39 of How to Get Revenge on a Cheating Ex
“We’re gonna take it slow.” A wicked smile curves one side of his mouth. “We’re gonna make him wonder.”
I frown. The thought of drawing this out is unbearable. I can’t have another run-in with Grayson like the one I had this morning. “I’m not good at faking it.”
“Yeah, I know.” Zack’s laughter is low and soft, and not necessarily mean. “But that’s the beauty of this plan. The weirder you act, the more he’ll wonder.” He turns back to study me. “Hasn’t he ever made you wonder?”
I go to say ‘no’, but I can’t because a memory hits me so hard it nearly knocks me off my feet. The night he went to a Valentine’s Day party without me because I was sick. I told him to go, but I remember how he didn’t respond to my texts, and I’d had this overwhelming fear.
Not that I ever really thought that he was cheating on me. It wasn’t that. It was just…
I’d hated knowing I was missing out. That he was having fun without me. I worried he’d forget all about me if I wasn’t there.
I swallow and give my head a shake. It’s a random memory, but for some reason that night in particular stands out.
The next morning he’d been so sweet and I’d felt like a jerk for ever doubting him, but now…
Now it’s like the memory of that one night cracks open all the others. All the countless nights where I worried because I wasn’t at his side.
A few times I’d tried to talk to him about it, and he’d laughed off my fears. He’d made me feel like I was paranoid or needy.
What if that wasn’t my anxiety but my instincts trying to tell me what was going on right in front of my face?
I rub my forehead like that’s going to help clear my thoughts.
How many times was I right to be paranoid?
I look over at the phone. Even from where we stand on the docks, I can see that it’s lit up with a new text. From Grayson, probably.
Is he wondering why I’m not answering? Is he feeling a little paranoid, but trying to laugh it off?
Zack moves closer, and now he’s so close I can see the sheen of sweat on his neck. “We’re gonna make him wonder, Bailey.”
He says it so softly, for a second I think maybe he knows. Like somehow, he saw me curled up in bed, clutching my phone as I desperately waited for Grayson to text me back.
“Make him wonder about what?”
“You. Me.” He wraps an arm around my waist and tugs me close. “Us.”
I push against his chest until he lets me go. “There is no us.”
“Not yet,” he agrees. “First, we give him some reason to be suspicious. We laugh. We flirt. But wewillbe an ‘us’ soon enough, so you’d better get used to a little PDA, Smurfette.”
The nickname has me wrinkling my nose at him, but he just laughs. “What’s wrong? Worried you might really fall for me if we get too close?”
I refuse to cater to his teasing. “More like, worried he’ll never buy that I’m attracted to you. Or…vice versa.”
His eyes dip, and my heart skips a little when they land on my lips. But then his cocky gaze meets mine. “I promise it won’t be so bad.”
I arch my brows in disbelief.
“Fine,” he says. “We’ll both be miserable. But even if we drive each other completely insane, at least we know it’s worth it because Grayson’s gonna lose his shit when he finds out.”
My belly tightens into a ball of nerves at the thought of Grayson’s reaction.
“When the time is right, we’ll let him catch us.” Zack’s smile is so smug, it’s a little frightening. He seems so sure about this, and I’m only now starting to realize what I’ve gotten myself into.
I try to swallow down the thick knot that’s starting to choke me. “He’s never going to forgive me for this.”
It comes out as a whisper, but I know he hears me because Zack’s eyes narrow. “Do you want him to?”
