Page 38 of Secret Obsession
I pick myself up slowly. It seems like I was just dropped unceremoniously in the space between the coffee table and the television. Not on the couch, which is empty. That would’ve been too easy.
My laptop is open on the coffee table, swiveled to face me with a video playing on mute. I squint at it, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing.
It starts over.
My breath stalls. It’s an overhead view of the players’ entrance. Amanda squaring off against me. She says something, and then she lunges. She strikes me first, an open-handed slap that whips my head to the side. She gripped my neck after that, trying to haul me closer. She’d been watching too many hockey fights, I think.
I hit her, and then Miles and his coach come into the frame. But not before Amanda punches me, the hatred in her eyes so fucking clear. My cheek pulses, and I brush my fingers against it. My skin feels tight and hot.
But then I get a good hit, slamming my knee into her stomach. I’ll never forget the quick groaned exhale and the way it felt to grab her hair and throw her to the floor. And then Miles is there, crowding me backward, while his coach dealt with Amanda.
The video cuts there and starts again.
I shake my head and crawl to the table. I exit out of the video and open my social media tabs, going to my page to delete the post about her.
But it’s already gone.
I sit back on my heels and rub my eyes. I’m probably ruining what’s left of my makeup. My head hurts,still. Passing out definitely didn’t help. My whole body is out of sorts. Clammy, cold.
I close my laptop and tuck it under my arm, rising slowly. My head swims, but my legs aren’t too unsteady. I head for the kitchen in search of a drink.
Noise from the basement draws my attention. After a second of debating, I follow the sound and descend the steps.
Knox and Steele are on the couch, controllers in their hands. A video game plays on the huge television mounted to the wall.
“You finally wake up, baby?” Knox calls.
My brow furrows.
Am I living in an alternate reality?
He pauses the game and cranes around. “What are you doing just standing there? Come here.”
It feels so much like how he acted when we were dating, I almost move forward. My body sways, and then I shake my head. I bite the inside of my cheek.
Blood blooms across my tongue, keeping me grounded.
He broke up with me. Admitting I loved him was his sole goal the entire time we dated.
“Did you cheat on me?” The words come out before I can stop them. I set my laptop down against the wall.
He tosses his controller aside and stands. He circles the couch and stops a foot away from me. Way too close for comfort, and my muscles have locked up now that his attention is on me.
“Why do you ask?”
I shrug.
“Would it make it better or worse?” He reaches out and tugs on a lock of my short hair. “I didn’t kiss or have sex with anyone while we were together, babe. Okay?”
Not really.
Because a million sleepless nights where I found him flirting with other girls come to mind. I was way too confident in us. How many excuses had I used?
“Can I have a drink?”
Knox gives me a look. “Tequila?”
For the wild child?
