Page 79 of Lorcan's Obsession

“Fayed, it's not what you th—”

"I never pegged you for a liar, Tristen. Don’t take me for a fool!” he gritted, angry veins forming on his forehead.

Denial was at the tip of my tongue but one look at the hurt in his kind brown eyes shut that down. Four long years of hoping and waiting had vaporized for him in mere minutes.

“Fay, please don’t get angry.”

"You've been seeing him?”

“Fayed, you must believe me, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’d never do that to you.”

The whites in his eyes were slowly turning red. “Do you like him?”

My head bobbed of its own accord. I couldn’t lie anymore.

“How long?”

“Fayed—”

“How. Long. Tristen?”

"A-about a month."

His head dropped. When he finally looked at me again, I saw the finality in his eyes. The defeat.

“There’s only one thing that matters for me, Tristen. Are you still planning on seeing him?”

My heart stuttered. No matter what I said, someone’s heart would be broken. And thanks to Fayed’s grilling, there was no half-truth or indecision I could hide behind. I had to make a choice and accept the consequences.

I lifted my head, straightened my shoulders, and met the eyes of the man who'd loved me for four years.

“I want to keep seeing him, Fay.”

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. Fayed nodded curtly, placed his napkin on the table, and kissed me chastely on the cheek.

"Satakun dawman hubiy," he whispered.

You will always be my love.

And then he walked out the door.

His words echoed long after he had left. And I hated that I wasn’t honest with someone who saw me as his entire universe. How did I manage to break two hearts in one day?

I stared numbly at the thin slices of raw fish and Fayed’s favorite shrimp rolls that he had left uneaten until Curtis’s voice dragged me out of my miserable thoughts.

"Hey girl, how’s it going here?" He changed his tune once he saw my face. "Babe? Why you sulking? And where did Fayed go? He always gives huge tips."

"He left. He’s mad at me.”

“How’s that possible? The guy has your heart carved on his forehead.”

“Yeah, well, the guy I'm banging showed up and kissed me in front of him. So...there's that."

"Awww…look whose pussy stock market index just hiked." He smirked, playfully swatting my arm.

"Curt, it's serious. I have to make up with both of them. I need them for different purposes."

"C'mon, bitch. Spill. I cannot hover at one table for long. Who would you rather do?"

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