Page 31 of The 13th Daughter
"Cassie, let me explain..."
"Shut it!" I tried to keep from yelling, everyone was already staring at us. The wind tore through the trees and lashed out at us all. "At least you got what you wanted. I'm here."
"Cassie..."
"Don't," I told him. "Just don't."
"It was Billy's idea!" Ethan pointed a finger at him.
"Billy's idea?" Kay rounded on her boyfriend. "You put him up to this? How could you do that? She's my best friend. How could you hurt her like that?"
"Kay..."
"Oh no, Billy, don't even try it. I'm so mad I might just break up with you right now if you say another word to me."
"Kay, I'm sorry. It was stupid."
"No, it was more than stupid, you assholes!" She glared at all three of them.
"Cassie, please..."
"No," Kay cut Ethan off. "Leave her alone. You've done enough. Come on, CJ, let's get you home."
"I'll drive you," Billy offered, his voice desperate.
"I don't think so," Kay told him, her own voice as cold as a winter's frost. "I have my own car. What you did was horrible and I can't stand to look at you right now, William James Howe!"
She turned us away from them and I didn't start to cry until we were in the car.
Chapter Ten
I ranstraight past my dad and up the stairs to the bathroom. I jerked off the dress and the shoes – well, I was a bit more careful with the shoes. After scrubbing my face and pulling on my pjs, I crawled into bed. So I'd been just a way for him to prove himself? How could he do that to me? Why would he do it? I thought he'd felt the same way I did, but I'd been wrong. All he'd managed to do was rip another hole into my already tattered heart. Those beautiful gray eyes rose up to taunt me when I closed mine and I cursed. Why did it hurt so much? I barely knew him.
But I did know him. My heart knew him. It loved him, traitorous fool that it was. All I had been to Ethan was a means to an end – he'd managed the one thing no one else had ever been able to do. So what if he was a great kisser and told me things that made me feel special and even understood the depth of the pain I felt for Emily. So what? Who's to say it wasn't all an act?
Tears blurred my vision. Please, please don't have been an act.
"Here, move over." Kay pulled back the covers and piled junk food on the bed. She grabbed the remote and handed me a spoon. "I think I covered all the basics – chips, pop, ice cream, and chocolate."
I blinked at the mountain of junk food she'd brought up. I also saw that she had pulled on one of my longer nightshirts. It barely covered her. I smiled at how idiotic she looked.
"Do you want butter pecan or cookies and cream?" she asked, diving into the bed.
"Butter pecan," I told her through a hiccup.
"Good, cause you would have to fight me to the death for the cookies and cream," she smiled and flipped on the TV. "O-h-h, look it's John Carpenter's Halloween." She knew I was a sucker for horror movies.
"What did you tell Dad?" He'd seen us come in together. He must have put two and two together.
"That your date was an ass and you called me to come get you."
"He believed you?" I asked. "I didn't leave the house in a dress, MJ."
"Don't worry," she soothed. "We'll come up with something. Let's not worry about that right now, okay? Let's just eat ourselves to death on ice cream and chocolate."
"I can't believe I was so stupid." I shoveled a large spoonful of ice cream into my mouth.
"You weren't stupid," she said quietly. "I know you're pretty mad and you're hurt, but I honestly think Ethan cares about you. No matter what happened, I believe that."
