Page 46 of The Ring
“What?” I ask in disbelief. While it’s what I had hoped for, a part of me always thought he was the better man.
“Do I really have to repeat myself?”
I nod. I’m still processing, and I need to hear it one more time to fully believe it.
“Cornelia. Turned. Nate. Down,” West repeats, very slowly, seeming to enjoy saying the words as much as I’m enjoying hearing them. When I told him I’d given Nate free rein to shoot his shot with Cornelia, he asked me if I’d gone insane.
As I assimilate it, I realise something. Nate has been inNew York for the past few days, so this must have happened almost a week ago. In our friend group, most of the time we’re all up in each other’s business, so what one person knows, it doesn’t take long for everyone else to know—unless they deliberately don’t want you to find out. That’s why I thought either Nate hadn’t talked to Cornelia yet, or she reciprocated his feelings, and they were hiding it from me.
“For how long have you known?”
He takes a few seconds before finally saying, “Laurie told me four days ago.”
“And you’re just telling me now?” I snap.
I’m boiling. I understand it from Laurie—his loyalty has always been with Cornelia. If we were both falling off a cliff and he could only save one of us, he’d choose her. In truth, I’d thank him because that’s exactly what I’d have wanted. But I’d hoped West’s loyalty would lie with me instead.
“Yes,” he answers without batting an eye.
“You intentionally let me torture myself, thinking all this time they could be together?” My voice rising.
He looks amused, which only makes me angrier. “Actually, it was Laurie who told me to wait a minimum of two weeks to tell you. But I was nicer and told you earlier than I promised. Besides, I think I did you a favour by waiting to tell you.”
“A favour?” I scoff. “Are you high?”
“Yes, afavour,because now that you know how much the idea of her with someone else repulses you, maybe you’ll actually do something about it instead of sitting on your arse, hoping she’ll magically forgive you and take you back.”
It always repulsed me—the idea of her with someone else—but maybe West isn’t entirely wrong. Maybe I should do something about it. The problem is, I don’t even know where to start, and I don’t know if she even wants me to.
“West,” a female voice calls from the hallway, “what’staking you so long—” Her words trail off the moment she steps into the living room and sees us sitting together. “Hi, TJ,” she tells me.
I wave my hand. “Hey, Laura.”
Laura is West’s current… I wouldn’t say girlfriend, but she’s also not just a one-night stand, and I wouldn’t say they’re friends-with-benefits either, because I don’t know what he could possibly have in common with a woman almost twenty years his senior. Let’s just leave it at that—they fuck a lot.
She continues walking further into the room until she reaches where we are sitting. She’s wearing nothing but one of his black shirts, her dirty-blonde hair a mess, though she doesn’t seem to care—she usually would, so I guess whatever she wants is more important. “Did you ask him?” she asks West, side-eyeing me.
“Ask me what?” I reply before West can answer her.
West turns to me. “That if you have a spare condom—which, judging from what just happened…” He points towards the door with a smirk. “You probably do.”
It’s not the first time he’s asked me for condoms, and I’ve also occasionally asked him for some myself.
I flick him off but get off the couch. “I’ll be right back.”
Chapter 24
Cornelia
“What time is it?” I ask Anthony from the couch in his home office, where I’m currently lying. He’s at his desk, working on something on his computer.
“Five minutes after the last time you asked me,” he answers, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“What’s taking them so long?” I mutter, more to myself than to him.
Anthony still replies, “It’s rush hour—there’s likely a lot of traffic from the airport to here.”
I came here to talk to him and the event planner about the final details for my upcoming birthday party two hours ago, and during the meeting, my maternal grandmother called to tell Anthony that she and my aunt had just landed in London.
