That’s why I try to prod him. “What are you doing sitting here in my dark room? Waiting for me to get home from my date so you can talk shit about his height?”
Cole blinks, but the fogginess in his gaze doesn’t clear, he just stares at me with…shame in his army green eyes?
“What did you do?” I ask him as I approach him.
Oh my god. He fucked Inessa tonight.
That’s why he looks so ashamed of himself, like a puppy dog who got caught pissing on the rug.
I shouldn’t care.
I won’t let him know that I care.
“You can fuck whoever you want,” I tell him indifferently as I toss my purse on the dresser while grinding my back teeth together. “You and I are done, after all. I don’t know how many times I have to say it.”
“I haven’t…I didn’t fuck anyone,” Cole says. His voice is oddly flat, but I stupidly believe him. And I’m so relieved it’s ridiculous. “I just…I’m sorry about that night in the pantry, and the other times.”
“Huh?” I ask since I’m so damn confused.
The pantry? Why the hell is he bringing that up now, tonight? Not only bringing it up but…apologizing to me? “So, you’re finally feeling guilty about blackmailing me? Why the attack of conscience now all of a sudden?”
Lowering his eyes to the carpet, he says, “Cassie, I know about the two guards.”
“No shit. You’re the reason they both quit,” I remind him. Is he sleepwalking and talking or something because this conversation is so bizarre.
Cole shakes his head. “No. I mean, I know they took your virginity.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I blurt out.
Still refusing to look up at me, the bastard says, “They told me they held you down in the gym.”
“That’s not…that’s so fucked up, Cole! I can’t believe you would actually use my first time to make me feel bad!”
Now he lifts his head, eyes finding mine. “To make you feel bad? I’m not apologizing to make you feel bad. I just wanted to tell you that if I had known what they did, I wouldn’t have ever forced you in the pantry. You know that, right? I’m sorry.”
“Wow,” I mutter. Shoving my fingers through the front of my hair, I try to figure out what to say here. He thinks they…that he took advantage of me? I mean, technically yes, he did, but I didn’t mind. “Did I want two cocks in me when I lost my V-card? Hell, yes,” I say, causing Cole to wince. “So, fuck you, you nosy bastard. It was none of your business!” Then I feel the need to also add, “And you know for a fact that I like it hard, that I wanted it rough, don’t you?”
“You didn’t want them,” he responds quietly.
“Yes, I did! I liked being wanted, and I don’t regret it.”
“Cassie, they were angry and horny from you kicking their asses. They forced themselves on you.”
“Fuck off,” I huff. “I’d rather have either of them than you any day of the week.”
Now, the anger finally returns to Cole’s eyes. “You’re lying. And even if that was true, too fucking bad. I killed them both tonight.”
He what?
I shake my head, unable to find the words. “No, you didn’t.”
“I did,” he says as he gets to his feet. Holy shit. That’s not ketchup on his shirt. It’s blood. “I read their texts to you and went to ask them questions. They gave me the wrong goddamn answers. You were a virgin, and they made sure you couldn’t say no. That’s the definition of…”
“No! It-it wasn’t like that! If they had forced me the first time, then why would I keep fucking them after that night?” I ask him, my eyes and throat raw and stinging.
“I honestly don’t know, Cassie. Maybe because you were hoping for more…”
“More?”