AERIS
It’s around four in the morning when I sneak out of Hayes’ bedroom. I normally would’ve stayed for breakfast, but I’m behind on stuff for work, and my boss is going to blow a gasket if I don’t get the captions in on time.
Shoes still dangling from my fingers and my hair a bird’s nest, I quietly start to head downstairs when a slurry of voices interrupts my departure.
As I peek around the corner, I see Kit’s head of dark hair and Bristol’s lighter one. A seedling of curiosity plants itself inside of me. What could they be talking about this early in the morning? I don’t want to barge into their conversation, and I don’t technically mean to eavesdrop, but…
“Has he told Aeris?”
Told me?
“About?”
Yeah, about?
“About the whole fake relationship stuff,” Kit clarifies.
“If he has, she must’ve taken it better than I expected,” Bristol says.
“I mean, it worked, you know? He rebranded his image.”
Record scratch. Hold on. What the fuck did Kit just say?
I freeze, waist-deep in a tsunami of shock. My veins turn into rivers of ice as I stare at them from my spot on the stairs, trying to make sense of everything.
The truth whips me like a live wire, and the only reason my limbs haven’t given out yet is because I’m clinging on to the railing. My breath has fled me, the dizziness is overpowering, and tears boil over onto my skin, creating what feels like third-degree burns.
Fake relationship. Rebrand his image.
Oh my God. My father was telling the truth. How could he have possibly known? I’m so stupid for not heeding his warning.
But I’m not stupid, am I? It was a rumor.
But there’s a reason rumors exist. There’s a reason they’re so widely believed by people. And it’s usually because there’s an inkling of truth in there.
Hayes has a temper? Check.
Hayes was a womanizer? Check.
I mean, the timing of everything makes sense. Hayes was getting a lot of hate over his reckless behavior, and he was getting involved in scandals left and right. And the moment I entered his life, everyone magically started to like him again.
Has he really kept me around this whole time to look like a decent guy?
The warning signs were right there—they were right in front of me. He lied to me about his occupation, then he kept Sienna a secret from me. I could’ve stopped all of this from ever happening if I’d guarded my heart better. And as betrayed as I feel by Hayes, the only person I can blame for getting me into this mess is myself.
When the guys exit the kitchen, I run as fast as I can down the stairs, and I don’t look back.
I’m sprinting across the driveway barefoot, but I know that if I stop, a part of me will want to march into Hayes’ room and demand that we talk. I need space to think. I need to digest all of this. I don’t want to see Hayes’ face or hear his voice.
He had an ulterior motive this entire time. Did he even mean it when he told me he loved me? Can I trust anything that’s come out of his mouth?
I can’t believe I’ve let myself get taken advantage of. Twice.
Tears run like river rapids down my face as I slam my car door. I wrap my hands around the steering wheel and bang my spine against the back of my seat. In the quiet of the early morning, my sobs drown out the light trilling of birds and the purr of an engine somewhere in the distance.
You know when your life is going too well, and you just feel like something bad is bound to happen? That bad has been waiting on the horizon for me this whole time, in the form of Hayes Hollings. Little did I know that the person who makes my sun rise every morning would also be the same person responsible for darkening my skies.
