Page 2 of Depraved Favors

“I think Jacob is cheating on me.”

She gasps, setting down the book to scoot closer and lie next to me. “What! Why? What happened?”

“Someone warned me about it. And I just—the signs are all there, Mom. I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you want to do?”

That’s where I’m conflicted because while I’m enraged and hurt at the thought of him cheating, it hurts more because of who he cheated with. If Jacob is my boyfriend, then she’s my soulmate. Someone I thought would be by my side for the rest of my life.

“I just want to disappear,” I tell my mom.

Her fingers dip to my forehead, trying to smooth the wrinkles caused by my sullen expression. “Where would you go?”

“The forest. Maybe a vampire will find me and tell me my blood sings for him and he loves me.”

She chuckles. “And what happens if some European vampire family comes and tries to kill you?”

My lips curl. “It won’t happen because we won’t make the mistake of having little hybrid vampire babies.”

My mom gasps, then pouts. “There goes my hopes of being grammie to those cute hybrid babies.”

Groaning, I roll into her chest, and she holds me, stroking my hair. “I just feel stupid.”

“You’re not stupid. No one should ever suspect their partner is cheating on them. That’s on them, sweetheart. It’s never on you.”

“I’ve barely spent time with him this year.”

She clicks her tongue. “Respectfully, Peyton, if he cheated because you were spending time with me, then fuck him. Like fuck him in the highest form of wishing someone the worst. He’s not worthy of you.”

I giggle, then swallow and tilt my head to look at her. “They said it’s with Brit.”

My mom can’t withhold her flinch, and her attention strays to something over my head. She sighs, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“I don’t know who I am more hurt from, but I think it’s Brit. I don’t even want to go on the trip anymore.”

“I think you should, if for no other reason than to go through her phone,” my mom suggests.

I sit up, and my mom follows me up so we lean against her headboard. “Go through her phone?”

She nods. “You guys will be spending a week together, wait till she falls asleep and go through it. Get the confirmation you need.”

“I can’t believe my mom is telling me to break into someone’s phone.”

“Hey, I’ve spent some time on this earth, and I thought it was going to be cut short. And I’ve learned one thing,” she says with a laugh.

“What?”

“Do the petty thing. There’s times I look back and wish I had spoken my mind because withholding my opinions or thoughts resolved nothing in the end, but it could have made me feel better.”

I scrunch my nose at her. “So go through her phone and confront her with the truth?”

My mom shrugs. “Or just get what you need and do whatever you want with the information.”

Chapter Two

Peyton

“You know, if you boys weren’t so caught up about going to Vail, you could come with us,” Brit teases Jacob as I toss my bag into her trunk. I grit my teeth to hold in my anger at them both.

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