Page 64 of Scandalous Little Obsession

"A lot of things," I state, leaning in close so I can watch her reaction change. "Like the way you played me. All the lies you told. The fact that my dick was inside you hours after Jeff's had been. How gross I felt when I found out you'd been cheating on me for months." Tandy steps back, but I grab her hand and pull her close, wrapping my arm around her waist. "I think about all the times I almost told you I loved you those last few weeks. Mostly, though..."

I pause, Tandy's breathing ragged, tears welling in her eyes. I'm about to break her the way she broke me. I don't want to do it, but I have to. To end this. So she knows it's over. So she leaves me alone.

"Mostly I think about what you said when you broke up with me. That youneverloved me. That you werefakingit all those years. And that you werefucking my best friendbecause I wasn't enough for you. That's what I think about, Tandy. Any other questions?"

Releasing my hold on her, Tandy quickly moves out of my embrace, almost tripping over her own feet in an attempt to get away from me.

"You're evil!" she screams.

"No, I was honest with you, which is more than you deserve considering you lied to me."

"Your mom—"

"I swear to God, Tandy, if you contact my mother, I will tell her everything. I've kept this to myself for long enough. I did it for her, not you, but I will paint you as the liar and cheater you are if you ever speak to her again. Do you understand me?"

I've kept my anger in check. Spoken my peace without letting my emotions get the best of me. But when she mentioned my mom, all bets were off.

Tandy storms out of my room, slamming the door behind her. Plopping down on my bed, I feel relieved until I smell her toxic perfume on my sheets.

Stripping everything off, I grab a roll of quarters from my desk drawer and head down to the basement to wash away the last of my relationship with Tandy. I'm not only cleansing my life, but my soul. Moving forward. Leaving the past behind me, where it belongs.

Only, when I get back upstairs to my room, I find Evie sitting on the floor outside my door. Her knees are pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her body is shaking, a clear sign she's crying.

Sliding down next to her, I run my hand up and down her back slowly in an attempt to soothe her, but she moves out of reach.

"Angel, what's wrong?"

When I try to move closer to her, she stands and turns her back to me.

"Why? Why was she here?"

Did she see Tandy? How is that possible? She would just now be getting back to campus.

"Who?" I ask the question, already knowing the answer but needing to hear her confirm my suspicions.

"Your ex. I saw her. You closed the door. She was in there with you."

She saw it all. She's drawn her own conclusion already.

"She came here on her own. I didn't invite her if that's what you're thinking."

"I think you're lying to me. I saw you close the door. I went back to my dorm and was going to ignore it, but I couldn't. And when I got back here, I saw her leaving. Then I saw you taking your sheets downstairs. What am I supposed to think, Leo?"

"You're supposed to trust me."

"Did you sleep with her?"

Fuck!

Running my fingers through my hair, I let out a sigh as I stare at the dirty carpet between my feet.

"No."

"Then why were you washing your sheets?"

The truth is going to make things worse, but I don't want to lie to her.

"They smelled like her. She sat on my bed and her perfume—"

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