Page 63 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“No, no, no. It wasn’t like that.” Cecile quickly cut me off. “Iwasdrunk. But I remember everything. I remember how bad I wanted Tobias. But I was so mad at Paul about this stupid fight we had, and now I’m a cheater. I ruined everything!” Cecile threw herself into my arms again.
I saw red. I knew Cecile wasn’t a victim. She slept with Tobias because that’s what she thought she wanted. But those Sjöberg brothers were getting on my nerves, always taking what they want, when they want it, having no respect for other people’s relationships, or thinking about the consequences.
I know Cecile did it because she felt like it. But I know how tempting William was when I was with Thomas and how he messed with my head—always meddling where he shouldn’t because he just didn’t care about anyone but himself.
And now Tobias was proving to be exactly like his brother.
I’m not so sure if Cecile would’ve slept with him if she was sober. That’s what made me so angry. That Tobias might’ve taken advantage of the situation.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to them, gently unlocking my arms from around Cecile. I stormed out of the room without looking back. I needed to talk to Tobias. I considered him a friend, and I trusted him with one of my best friends ever. And she comes back drenched in tears? Not on my goddamned watch.
“Billie,attendez!” Cecile shouted. I left anyway. It had to be done.
I took the elevator to the eleventh floor, fully aware that I was headed to William’s turf but not really caring.
After knocking a few times, Tobias opened the door with red-rimmed, heavy eyes, wearing nothing but black cotton shorts.Jesus.
“Get dressed,” I said, looking away with a haphazard wave in his direction. “We need to talk.” They were allinfuriatingwith their abs and shit.
“Good morning to you too,” he said in a low, rough voice. He looked destroyed. And that made me feel festive. I hope he had a terrible headache too. Tobias gestured for me to come in and disappeared into his room.
Thankfully, William was nowhere to be found. Probably busy masterminding his plans for tonight, wondering which and how many girls to bring in next, or whatever. The guy was greedy.
I waited for Tobias in the living room, too angry to realize sooner it was the first time I set foot in William’s apartment. Everything was impeccable. It had a similar style and color palette as the cottage but a few more hints of color here and there. There was a beautiful, black grand piano that took almost half the living room space.
And these guys had even more books than I did. There was a loaded floor-to-ceiling bookcase, neatly organized by spine color. It made me want to stand up and figure out how else they’d been cataloged. It was hard to understand how they found the time to read since they were always busy womanizing and such.
I rolled my eyes at the bookcase because it was really nice, and Tobias walked out of his room, pulling a t-shirt over his head in a lazy motion.
“Why are you looking at me like you want to kill me or some shit like that?” He brushed his face with his hands, trying to dry it. His hair dripped with water here and there. Good thing he threw some water on his face. I needed him to be fully awake for this.
“Because I’m seriously considering it,” I replied. “Cecile just walked back to my apartment in tears, Tob. She feels terrible about what happened last night.” Tobias took a seat in front of me. “She has a boyfriend. I told you. Several times, actually. But you didn’t care. I thought I could trust you, but you’re just like William. Selfish to the core.”
I wished William was here to listen. He might’ve found the conversation enlightening.
“Billie, I didn’t do anything she didn’t want to do too. You know me. You know I would never—”
“She was drunk, Tob. And come on, you know you’re not that hard to look at, either.”
Tobias smiled for a second, but he cleared his throat with a furrowed brow once he noticed how serious I was about the conversation. I wasn’t here to blow up his ego. I was just laying the facts on the table. Tobias isgorgeous. Fact. And Cecile agrees. Another fact.
“What do you want me to say! I’m sorry, okay,” he said in a snappy tone, rubbing his temples. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I like her, actually—a lot. And I wished she didn’t have to leave. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t leave it at a one-night stand. I’d still want her here with me right now. But she woke up and just—took off.”
“You liked her yesterday. And today, you’re going to like someone else—tomorrow, who knows.” I huffed slowly. “I thought you were different.” I couldn’t help but look away.
“Look, I know she loves blackcurrant gelato. It’s her favorite. She likes going to that place in Saint-Michel, where they make the ice cream look like a flower,” Tobias began, standing up. The actor inside him took the lead.
I raised a brow, crossed my arms in front of me, and leaned back on the couch. I was getting a front-row seat to Tobias’s monologue, and I was there for it.
He looked at me, and I nodded, gesturing with a haphazard hand for him to continue.
He paced back and forth along the space between the sofa and the coffee table. “I know she’s studying Marketing and how she would love to work here in New York after graduation. I know she loves you very much”—he glanced at me—“because she couldn’t stop talking about it.” He smiled, his blue eyes looking straight into mine. Hell, they were just like William’s.
I looked away again, heavily annoyed by that.
He took a seat and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning in, his hands in a single fist. “IknowI like Cecile, and I know she’s one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen. It sucks that she’s in a relationship with someone else and that she’s feeling terrible about what happened last night because I don’t. I’m glad I met her and that it happened.”
“She does love going to Amorino,” I said through my teeth. We often went for ice cream there. I had to take the deepest breath. This whole speech-monologue thingy Tobias had just thrown at me was kind of romantic. I didn’t know what to think anymore.
