Page 57 of Inevitable

“Are you here to play twenty questions or something?” I tried to pull off a joking tone, but I'm pretty sure it came across defensive. It didn't seem to help matters since Kit's eyes darkened a bit and he ground his teeth.

He recovered quickly and pasted on a tight smile. “I was just curious. I missed you.” Just then he moved in and put his hand on my waist, leaning down to kiss me. At the last second, I turned my face to offer him my cheek, giving him a closed smile.

Kit pulled back and I worried that his jaw would permanently fuse together if he clenched it any tighter. “So, what were you up to last night that kept you out?” his tone almost convincingly light and casual. Too bad I knew better.

I had two ways to play it, and neither option seemed good. I could have lied and told him I had just left early this morning for breakfast, but I didn't want to resort to that. There had been too many lies swirling around me lately and it needed to stop. Bash and I had lied to each other about our feelings and circumstances, I had been lying to Kit by dating him when I didn't truly want to, and mostly I had been lying to myself. I needed to own up to my shit and end this the right way. Kitwasn't a terrible guy, and I owed him that much at least.Especially seeing as how I'm literally dumping him for my best friend who I swore up and down wasn't a threat to our relationship and I had no feelings for…oops.

I took a deep breath, praying for the strength to get through this without too much bloodshed.

“I spent Thanksgiving day with Bash yesterday and ended up staying over,” I said candidly, and I saw the flare in his nostrils and the tension in his body.

“Oh. Thought you said you were wanting to have your “alone time” over the break. Guess that doesn't apply to yourbestfriend,” Kit sneered at me, emphasizing that he didn't trust my friendship with Bash as he said he had. I bristled with indignation.

Okay, let's not be a fucking hypocrite here, Russo. Turns out, he was right not to trust you because you and Bash jumped into bed to do the pelvic rodeo last night, so…

“Bash had come home early and asked if I wanted to have lunch with him and hang out for the day. It was a spur of the moment invite, that's it,” I said, unsure why I was attempting to explain myself to him when I was going to send him on his way single again.

“Must have been one hell of a five-course meal for you to have stayed the night for it,” Kit bit out, his fingers twitching oddly at his side.

“I wasn't just there for the lunch—”

“Did you fuck him?”

I reeled from his blunt question and it took a few seconds for me to get my bearings straight before I realized it was now or never. “We…were together, yes,” I admitted softly, finally breaking eye contact when the guilt hit me suddenly. I had pointed out to Bash that he had cheated by being with me last night, but so had I. The difference even worse because although Bash had been manipulated into a relationship with Ainsley, I had walked into a relationship with Kit freely. It had been my choice to be with him, and no matter what my feelings were, he didn't deserve my unfaithfulness.

“I'm so sorry, Kit…it wasn't planned, it just happened. You didn't deserve that.” I apologized in earnest, but Kit was shaking his head the whole time.

“I don't think you are, Micah. I knew something was going on between you two since we met, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt and thought that if I gave you time and showed you how good we could be together, you'd get over your childish infatuation,” Kit argued, stepping closer with each word. His condescension had my tempersparking, and I fought to stay calm. I didn't need to make this worse by popping off.

“Look, I never meant to hurt you or treat you as I did, but it's not a childish infatuation. I really tried to get over him and give you a chance, but—”

“But did you actually give me a chance or was I just a placeholder? Except for the party, you've been like a cold fish with me. I don't think you really wanted to get over him at all,” Kit accused coldly. Honestly, I couldn't refute what he was saying because it rang true in my head.

I had been lying to myself that I was trying to get over Bash by dating Kit since I knew there would never be a real chance of that happening. Bash was threaded into every vein and artery within me, as vital as the blood flowing through them. No other man would have stood a chance with me when I belonged to him entirely. In essence, I had used Kit and that meant that I was a true piece of shit.

“You're right…I used you to force myself to move on from Bash when I knew deep down it wouldn't happen,” I confessed, standing my ground as Kit moved closer, only inches separating us.

“You're a fucking tease, Micah. But you'll get yours soon. You think your perfect Bash is going to actually be with you? Are you really that pathetic?”

Anger spiked in my blood, hot and feral. “You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and this conversation is over,” I said sternly, trying to move around him to the front door to show him out.

He reached out and grabbed my elbow roughly, yanking me to him. “I do know what the fuck I'm talking about because you've been chasing after him for years and he's never gone for it, so what makes you think this isn't more than an experiment to him? You honestly think he'd leave his girlfriend foryou?A guy who's always been straight suddenly wants to crawl up your ass, and you don't find that suspicious?” Kit laughed caustically, shaking me on every other word as if he were trying to rattle my bones with his accusations.

“Shut the fuck up! You know nothing about me or Bash or what we've gone through! Now get your hands off me!” I tried wrenching out of his grip, but he tightened his hold and leaned into my face.

“You truly believe that he's not going to take his chance to fuck you out of his system and leave you behind? Here you are dumping me, but is he over there right now dumping her? Or are you just his slutty mistress and you're too fucking blind to see it?” he taunted cruelly.

“Get the fuck off me!” I shouted, tugging harder to release his hold, but Kit only shook me more.

“What, I'm not good enough to fucking touch you now because I'mnot your precious Bash?” Kit snarled at me.

It was the perfect storm of rage, hurt and poor decisions because I threw my weight backward at the same time that Kit finally relaxed his grip, sending me hurtling toward the ground. I connected with something behind me, and a searing white pain shot through the back of my head. Fire spread through my veins and all I could focus on was the deafening ringing in my ears.

I heard a faint yell from Kit that sounded as though it was coming from underwater, and then I sank into nothing but darkness.

CHAPTER 20

Bastian

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