There’s something wrong, and I’m going to find out what. Hunter’s been acting strange the last couple days, barely texting and calling—something he’s never done before. In all my years knowing him, he’s never treated me like this. I just thought that it was the holidays getting to him because he’s carted around until he’s exhausted. But I think it’s probably something more than that, and I’m going to find out right now.
I step forward, taking her off guard. She can’t scramble fast enough to keep me out of the house. She murmurs something like, “I never,” but I can’t be crapped to give a damn right now. And I know the reason why when I get a face full of it.
I see Hunter sitting on their loveseat with his arms around Cassandra Radcliff, watching a Christmas movie, snuggling, and loving up on each other. Neither has a care in the world, even while mine is crumbling down all around me. I see her hands clutching the arms that are wrapped around her.
Fuck. My soul feels like it’s burning to ash and flying away in the blistering winter wind. I feel numb, infuriated, hurt, sad, and betrayed like never before.
“What’s going on?” I ask. I hate that I can hear the franticness in my voice, because that means everyone in the house can, too.
No wonder there was a car in the driveway I didn’t recognize, as I see Cassandra’s dad and mom sitting on another sofa, right across from the two lovebirds. They’re sitting there having a conversation like nothing is wrong when everything is!
Everyone in Golden Oaks knows that Hunter and I have been together since forever. We may have started dating in eighth grade, but we were together much longer than that. And here this skanky girl is loving up on him like he’s hers.
All talking between the adults cease, and Hunter’s dad peers over in my direction. I can’t bring myself to look at him, knowing he’s allowing this to happen under his roof. I wonder if my dad knows about this? Surely, he would have told me, right?
His dad acknowledges me. So do his brothers, Owen and Emmerson. But not Hunter. He merely tugs Cassandra closer and presses a kiss to her temple.
“I said, what’s going on here?” I spit out between clenched teeth.
In all my fifteen years, I’ve never disliked Hunter. Never even thought about doing something so vile. But he’s pushing it. If this is a joke or a prank, he’s really going about it the wrong way. So what if I put ants in his bed? He got me back a few weeks later. With his cock, but that makes no difference.
Finally, when the movie goes on break, his majesty decides I’m worth his presence. “Who invited you?”
“You told me you would come over today. When you didn’t and said your mom had things for you to do, I thought I would come to give you your present.” It takes all I have not to bite off the words or say them sarcastically.
Sarcasm is my default setting. Hunter knows this.
“Oh, little con, you’re good.” He tilts his head back, peppering the air with a flourish of cynical laughter. “But there’s no way I’m going to fall for your tricks anymore.”
I furrow my brow in confusion. “Um, what?”
Tension fills the room so thick you could cut it with a knife. In fact, the knife he’s slicing my heart to shreds with does a fairly good job itself. I watch as he shoots a scathing look at his brother, Owen—who’s looking down at the floor with something akin to guilt—then brings his eyes to Emmerson—who looks like he’s silently begging him not to do something—before, at last, his gaze falls back on mine. His eyes are cold, lifeless. So far from the Hunter I know that it makes me shiver.
“I’m moving on with Cass. At least, with her, I know exactly what I’m getting. I won’t be blindsided by a con artist like you. Now, leave. No one wants you here.”
The hatred in his eyes is the last thing I see before I turn around, with as much dignity as I can muster, and leave the Prince house for good.
Love should never hurt this much.
And I was right. It wasn’t love, couldn’t be. Because love is the promise of forever. The promise to grow old with the reason your heart beats its rhythmic plunder in your chest.
Love is not losing your best friend, your lover, the person you can turn to, and not knowing the reason why.
Hell has undoubtedly frozen over. My eyes leech over her body as she walks away, taking in her newfound curves that look fucking … bangin’. It’s hard to suppress the groan burning my throat.
No longer the medium height string bean, she’s now a voluptuous piece of perfection. Breasts that are just the perfect handful, all-natural and untouched. Tiny waist, with just a snip of love handles that can be seen under her snug shirt. Mid-waist jeans that rise to at least her belly button, but sensually caresses her skin like a glove. Wide, plump hips that leave me salivating. And an ass that bounces with every step she takes.
Did she get surgery or something? No way her body turned into that naturally.
Taking my lip between my teeth, I bite down to keep myself in check and not react. Being near her again after all these years felt like no time had passed at all. She’s still the tiny squirt I fell in love with, and her bright, charismatic emerald green eyes nearly enthrall me.
“Yo, that’s one fine ass right there,” I hear Easton say, and my eyes flick to him just as he thrusts his hips forward in a lewd way.
Anger bubbles in my stomach, and it takes all I have inside to push it back down. Especially when I feel Cassandra’s arms wrap around my neck.
Fuck. Shouldn’t even react to shit, anyway. She’s the one who messed everything up. Harloe is the girl who couldn’t even keep her promise, but instead, betrayed me in the cruelest way possible.
My eyes go back to her retreating form just as she pulls her phone from the back of her pocket, peers down at it, smiles, then put it to her ear. Her eyes flick back toward us once more, and something about her gaze causes another emotion to tingle in my belly. But before she pushes the door open, Cass must see her glancing this way.
“Take a fucking picture, trash!” Cass crows, laughing cruelly when Harloe appears hurt by her statement.
I, on the other hand, am still a bit numb from seeing her again after all these years. Since the night I dumped her in my living room, she disappeared. No one could find her or her family, and trust me when I say this, we tried our best. Even though her dad still worked for my dad’s company, no one could get their new information.
While I shouldn’t have cared about Harloe, something in my gut told me that I at least needed to hear her out. But when I found out she disappeared, that was it. I had my answer. She had tried to play it cool, acting like she didn’t know what I was talking about, but her leaving solidified that she did the dirty deed of betraying me.
So, fuck her. Fuck the horse she rode in on. Fuck the pedestal I put her on all those years. Fuck. Her.
With a newfound goal in mind, I unwrap Cass’s arms from around me and stand up. “Going outside for a smoke, be back.”
Silence envelops our little group. Talking ceases, and they all stare at me, already knowing why I’m leaving the auditorium. They know I’m going out there to confront Harloe—especially Cass. May be idiotic, but I need her to know, even if I said it that night almost three years ago, that she’s not wanted here.