Page 127 of Pretend Girlfriend

But before I could do that, Wanda pointed at her and shouted, “Joanna is cheating on Landon!”

She couldn’t have created more chaos if she’d thrown a grenade into the middle of the group. Marisa let out a yelp of surprise. Danicka dropped her martini. The other dozen people responded with some mixture of confusion, shock, and anger.

And me? I felt numb.

“Don’t you dare deny it!” Wanda shouted at Joanna. “I know what I saw!”

Joanna held out her palms. “It’s not what you think. Theo and I…”

“Theo?” Wanda replied. “I was talking about Austin!”

Hearing the names pierced my numbness. I’d been wondering about Theo ever since Joanna muttered his name in bed the morning after the wedding ceremony. Something had happened between them, and it had been eating away at me to not know what it was. Which was stupid since she wasn’t actually my girlfriend. I had no control over her life or actions. She could do whatever she wanted.

But I couldn’t dismiss the deep sense of betrayal that I felt.

And now Austin was thrown into the mix? He’d carried Joanna on the beach when she injured her ankle, but aside from that I thought Joanna hated him. She’d been furious at him for convincing her to quit her job and come on the honeymoon. Now they were… what? Sleeping together?

I looked around. Neither Theo nor Austin were on the beach yet.

“I saw you and Austin making out on the stairs,” Wanda insisted. “I heard both of you. This wasn’t the first time. You were planning on hooking up tonight, too!”

My immediate reaction was shock. Which was probably a good thing, because that’s how everyone else was reacting. And many of them, including my parents, were looking at me. Judging my reaction.

I felt a moment of dread. The lie I’d been telling for the past two weeks was unraveling before my very eyes. Everyone knew.

But wait a minute. They didn’t know the real truth, yet. They only thought Joanna was cheating on me. My story was still intact. I could keep it going with a little effort. The situation was salvageable!

I turned to Joanna and demanded, “Is this true?”

She hesitated, looking into my eyes and realizing that I wanted to keep up the lie. “I… I was going to tell you.”

Marisa covered her mouth. “You were my bridesmaid!”

“I’m sorry,” Joanna said to me. There was genuine sorrow in her big eyes. It made it feel like we weren’t just putting on a show for the others.

“I can’t… I can’t believe this,” I breathed.

Theo came walking down to the beach with a frozen drink in each hand. “Anyone need a drink? I couldn’t decide between a daiquiri and a margarita, so I got one of each.”

“We all know, Teddy,” Marisa accused. “Joanna has been cheating on Landon with you and Austin!”

Theo’s smile slowly faded away. He looked like he wanted to throw down the drinks and sprint in the opposite direction.

“Well?” Chloe asked. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“It was just one time,” Theo said, eyes flicking toward Joanna. “We didn’t mean for it to happen. We smoked a little weed last night, and then things just sort of happened between the three of us…”

Marisa gasped. “You guys had a threesome?”

Theo’s jaw hung open as he gazed around the group. “Can someone tell me exactly what I’m being accused of? I need to know how elaborate to make my lie.”

“We knew Joanna was cheating!” Wanda exclaimed. “But both you and Austin… at the same time?”

“I knew something was up,” Bradyn said slowly. “We all went back to the arcade, but Theo stayed in the room with Joanna and Austin. And you never came back down.”

Was this really happening? Not only had Joanna been with Theo, not only had she been with Austin, but the three of them had hooked up together? In a threesome? No way. It was too insane.

Or was it?

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