Leila
The girls are all crowded together, looking down at their phones when I walk into the café.
“Hey,” I say, approaching them. They all look at me and then look back at each other. My brows knit together. “What’s wrong?”
“Have you checked your phone?” Madi asks.
I drop my bag to the ground, sitting at the table. “No, why?”
They all share a look again. What the hell is going on? I pull my phone out of my pocket and unlock it. I’m not even sure what I’m looking for but I find it immediately. Right there, when I open my phone are pictures.
My heart races, knowing these pictures are of Aiden’s family. His brother has a darker shade of brown hair, but that face… there’s no doubt this is Aiden’s brother. I scroll down, another image pops up. The name on the mug shot reading Cameron Pierce.
I swallow the gravel in my throat, scrolling through, seeing more pictures. There’s a short, blonde woman in one of them and my heart aches when I realize this is Aiden’s mother. Wrinkles coat her skin, her eyes sunken into her skull. She looks so small, but I know the kind of pain she inflicted on Aiden. The kind of pain he still carries with him, on his body and in his mind.
Jordan did it. He posted the pictures.
I glance around, seeing everyone murmuring and looking at their phones. They’ve all seen these pictures. Everyone has seen who Aiden’s family really are.
All of his efforts were for nothing. All the time and the lies and making me fall for him… it was all for nothing.
“Have you guys ordered?” I ask, tucking my phone into my pocket. They don’t answer me. I look down at the napkins on the table but I can feel their eyes on me, assessing me, questioning me.
“Are you okay?”
My eyes snap open, glancing up at Gabi, who glances down at her phone screen that’s turned off now. I tilt my head at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Rosie presses her lips together. “You knew, didn’t you? He told you about his family.”
I shrug, wishing I had a drink to wet my dry lips. “He said a lot of things. Who knows what was true?”
“Leila,” Madi says, placing a hand on my arm. “You’re not concerned? I know he hurt you,” she says frowning. “But just imagine what he’s going through. Have you talked to him?”
“We’re broken up. Why would I talk to him?” Thoughts of seeing him in the gym yesterday run through my mind, ripping my heart to shreds. I can’t stop thinking about it. Can’t stop seeing the look of desperation and guilt on his face. Of how he grabbed onto me desperately, almost as if he didn’t want to let go.
“I’m going to order.” I get up from the table, avoiding their pitied looks. I don’t even make it to the front desk without hearing murmurs and Aiden’s name. I should hate him. I should be thankful that it all blew up in his face and he got what he deserved… but I hate it.
I don’t bother ordering, leaving the café and going to see the one person who I wish I could avoid forever.
I knock on the big blue door to the frat house. Some other guy opens the door, furrows his brows at the sight of me, glancing behind him. Oh, for fucks sake, I don’t have time for this.
I push past him, hearing him curse an insult at me as I do. It’s impossible not to notice Jordan instantly, legs spread open as he sits on the couch, a controller in his hands. He spots me and groans. “Jesus,” he spits out, throwing the controller to the side. “Not you too.”
I lift an eyebrow. “I don’t want to see you any more than you want to see me.”
He laughs, rubs his mouth. “Are you here for your boyfriend?” he asks. “You’re late.”
My palms itch. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
He snorts. “Right. Hurts, doesn’t it?”
I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to, but I’ve been racking my brain for answers. “Why did you do it?” I ask.
“Do what?”
I glare at him. “Don’t play coy with me.” After all, he was the one who told me all about his plan, his texts with Aiden, how he manipulated everything. “Why did you tell him to kiss me?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t.”
“What?”
“I didn’t tell him to kiss you,” he says, staring at me. “I just told him to get your number.”
“But you said—”
“I lied,” he says with a shrug, grabbing the controller in his hand, and staring back at the screen. “Wanted you two to be over.”
“Why?”
He laughs, shakes his head, but doesn’t reply. I stalk over to him, ripping the controller out of his hands. “Bitch,” he scolds. I almost laugh. How original. “I needed to get back at you,” he admits, flaring his nostrils.
I flinch, taking a step back. “Back at me? For what? What did I ever do to you?”
“You don’t remember?” He tilts his head.
“Remember what?”
“The party, Leila,” he growls. “Freshman year, two weeks after we hooked up.” He sniffs, turning to the side. “I came onto you and you pushed me away.”
My mind starts spinning, remembering back to when Jordan was getting too touchy, grabbing me when I didn’t want him to, whispering in my ear about how he was going to fuck me so good.
“You threw your fucking drink on me, in front of everyone.” He turns back to face me, his face hard. “Made me seem like a loser after some fat chick.”
I’ve got to say, even after everything, that word still manages to hit like a punch to my stomach. And knowing I was intimate with this guy, even after thinking I was in control of the situation, thinking I had him right where I wanted him, it hurts knowing I was right. I was nothing but a challenge.
“You wouldn’t let me go,” I tell him.
“I just wanted to talk to you,” he says, taking a step closer to me.
I take a step back, creating space between us. “I didn’t want to talk to you. I still don’t. I just needed to know why you would do all of this.”
“You humiliated me. Pierce was my main goal,” he says, dragging his eyes down my body. “Getting my revenge on you was just the cherry on top.”
“That was over a year ago.” I narrow my eyes at him. “I didn’t even remember it.”
He sniffs. “You act like such a stuck-up bitch, but you came onto me first,” he says, pointing at me. “You approached me. You kissed me. You wanted it.”
I tilt my head at him. “Must have been the alcohol.” My eyes snake over his body. “Because nothing’s appealing about you right now.”
He snarls. “You ghosted me right after. Didn’t even look at me.”
“You told me to act like you didn’t exist. Besides.” I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “The first time was bad enough. Didn’t want a repeat.”
He laughs, bitterly. “You should consider yourself lucky I threw you a pity fuck.”
“And yet, you did all of this because I rejected you.” He blows out a breath through his nose, agitated. “Why Aiden?” I ask. “Why bring him into it?”
His lips twitch, smirking and I hate it. “That’s a different issue,” he says. “But who better to do a job I couldn’t do?” he says. “He would do anything to save his reputation.”
“Aiden’s not like that,” but the words die on my tongue right after I say them.
He smirks. “Got him to do it, didn’t I?”
My heart breaks all over again. No matter how much I think I know Aiden and what his true intentions were, I don’t. I don’t know anything about him, or if everything he said was just to keep up his end of the deal.
“I just didn’t expect him to fall for you,” he says, running his tongue over his teeth. “Thought he’d do his job, lead you on and leave.”
“What do you mean?”
He tilts his head, looks me up and down. “He sent your number a long time ago. I had what I needed.”
“Then why did he keep pursuing me?” I gave him my number before anything even happened between us. Why didn’t he just quit as soon as he got what he needed?
He laughs. “Because he lost his mind.”
I love you, Leila.
Everything was real.
Aiden’s words race through my mind, making me think of how he looked at me, begged me, desperately to hear him out. Could he… Was it real?
“I’ve got to go.”
A hand on my arm stops me and I look up at Jordan who’s got a grin on his face. “You know,” he says, looking me up and down. “This can all be fixed.” His eyes meet mine, filled with heat. “I could learn to forgive you.”
I nudge his hand off my shoulder and glare at him. “I’d rather fuck a hundred guys over you.”
He laughs and tilts his head. “Haven’t you done that already?”
I spin on my heels, push his front door open, and walk out of that house. My head spins, thinking back to the one guy I let go that meant everything to me.
Was he being real? Did he mean what he said to me? Does he… love me?
I pull my phone out, scrolling through the pictures that Jordan posted on social media. The comments are brutal, endless, and soul-crushing.
I can’t imagine what Aiden’s going through right now. I don’t even know If he would want to talk to me after everything. I was the one who made these pictures leak. His life is ruined because of me.
