Page 108 of What if I Told You

“Because he was the guy who played for the Gators when I was rookie. The guy who had a career ending injury during the game and hasn’t played since.”

“Oookay…”

“Because I was the final blow. I played in that game when I was with the Sharks,” I tell him, trying to take a deep breath. “He got checked pretty massively only I didn’t see it all happen at the time so when I came in hot and bounded into him again, the crash snapped his body in too many places. He never fucking recovered enough to get back on the ice.”

“August, that’s so not your fau?—”

“He fucking slept with her, Griffin!” I seethe, interrupting what I know he was going to say. “He slept with Ella. Fucked her and then took fucking pictures of her!”

I’m so hot I don’t know how I’m not physically exploding right now. My mind is coming up with irrational thoughts, I’m losing any and all ability to think coherently. I’m just so fucking pissed off. It’s like the world just tilted and threw everything I’ve ever known off balance.

“She’s been fucking with me this whole damn time!”

“Wait.” Barrett’s brows furrow and he cocks his head. “What?”

“She told me she loved me, but she slept with…” I shake me head. “She slept with the one person on this earth that I…I can’t…”

“AUGGIE?” Her voice rings down the hall as rage builds up inside me. “AUGUST!”

“He’s in here,” Barrett says, leaning his head out the doorway. I hear her clopping down the hallway, which tells me she’s still in her costume. When she rounds the door, she’s carrying her mascot head in her hands, her face is red, and she’s a little sweaty. She takes one look at me face and is by my side instantly, her hands cupping my face as she assesses my injuries.

“Oh, my God! Auggie! What the hell happened to you?”

Seething with anger I look her square in the eye and say, “You happened to me.”

Her expression falls. “What?”

I push her hands away from my face and stand from the exam table where I was sitting. She flinches as she steps back, her eyes bulging, and her brows furrowed. “Auggie, talk to me.” She shakes her head. “I don’t understa?—”

“You never understand, do you? Because you don’t fucking want to. You just waltz into someone’s life and assume they’ll take care of you and give you everything you could ever want because that’s all you do is take, take, take, isn’t it?”

“Auggie…?”

“What’s the matter Ella? Jeff Furbling didn’t do enough for you so you came out here to California to charm me into falling for you?”

“What?” She frowns. “What are you even talking about?”

“You FUCKED him, Ella!” I shout, my voice growing rough. I stare at her intensely so she can see the raw emotion in my eyes. “You spread your legs wide open for that fucking son of a bitch and you asked him to stick his dick inside you. You fucked him.”

“I…I didn’t…”

“You DID, Ella!” I step into her personal space, towering over her, making myself as huge as possible. “Don’t fucking deny it because you know what he showed me today? He showed me a goddamn naked picture of you!” I hold up the picture in my hand and toss it at her. “Did you know he had those? Huh? Did you know he took fucking pictures of you while you slept…NAKED? Or did you actually pose for these?”

A look of horror falls over her face and tears spring to her eyes as they flit to Griffin and Bear but I shake my head. “Don’t look at them! Look at ME!” I shout at her. “I’m the one standing RIGHT FUCKING HERE!” I huff. “I’m the one who gave you whatever you wanted! I’m the one who bent over backwards to make sure you were cared for here! I’m the one who gave up my lifestyle when you showed up so you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable! I’m the one you seduced with your pretty little tits and walking around my apartment in lingerie, crying to me about the lack of orgasms in your life. But it turns out you’re nothing but a whore, isn’t that right, Ella?”

“Aug—”

“Shut up, Griffin!”

Ella shakes her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. Her lip trembles and she nearly chokes back a sob when she whimpers, “That’s not true, Auggie.”

“Stop calling me that. My name is August. Only my best friend gets to call me Auggie and you are certainly not that person.”

I step away from her toward the door but I’m so filled with rage that I know I’ll regret it if I don’t say what’s really eating at me, so I turn around and scream as loudly as I can, “BECAUSE MY BEST FRIEND WOULD NEVER SLEEP WITH THE ONE PERSON ON THIS EARTH THAT WOULD HURT ME THE MOST! SHE’D NEVER DO IT! BECAUSE MY BEST FRIEND WOULD HAVE A GODDAMN MODICUM OF RESPECT FOR ME!

“I was lonely, August!” she cries as I’m about to march out of the room. “It wasn’t what you think! It was a mistake. All of it. I don’t even have a good excuse! You had just left after Christmas and I was missing you so damn much and he…he was there for a game and…it was years ago. I was drunk and he saw me at a bar. He was drunk too and we…he was an asshole, August, and…and you were my life then and now. You still are!”

I push my hand through my sweat soaked hair and then shake my head. “Well, I hope it was fucking worth it, Ella, because I can’t even look at you now without seeing him. All this time you could have told me. You knew how I felt about him. You knew the guilt and pain I’ve gone through for years because of him and yet you never once told me that you’ve felt his cock inside you and that is something I can’t forgive.” I sneer. “We’re done here. I never should have given you the time of day and I’ll be damned if I waste another breath on you.”

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