Page 138 of Forbidden Lessons

Chapter 38

Haven

I can barely see where I’m going. But I’d rather pull a muscle than make multiple trips to the car and back, bringing my stuff inside. I’m stubborn and stupid like that.

Groaning, I dump my armful of stuff onto my bed and survey my junk with a disparaging once-over. It’s hard not to dwell on the thought that Bastian saw everything I own as he transferred my stuff out of the sedan and into his Land Rover.

Luckily, I don’t keep anything embarrassing with me. Like a vibrator.

“You fucked him.”

I spin around, hand on my heart as I stare at Melissa where she’s sitting perched on the edge of her bed, one leg draped over the other. “Are you auditioning for a fucking horror movie or something?”

She crosses her arms over her chest, rumpling her cropped, pink houndstooth jacket. “Was it a package deal? Or did he make you do ass stuff for the car?”

I snort. “Are you high?”

“Hillary got a call from our professor this morning. Next thing I know, my roommate’s gone. Then you show up.” Her eyes narrow. “You’ve got to be sleeping with him.”

“What? No!” There’s a hot blush creeping up my neck, so I quickly turn to the bed in a pathetic attempt to sort out the junk piled on the sheets.

I stop, her words finally hitting home, and throw her a glare over my shoulder. “Assstuff?”

She shrugs a shoulder and looks away, her tone all cool indifference. “You’re not a very good liar.”

“And you’re not a very good friend,” I snap.

Her chestnut eyes are wide when she looks back at me. There’s this tensing in her arms as if she’s about to lash out, then she slumps a little. “Fair point.”

I turn to face her, hugging my arms tight against my chest. I need to dig my cardigan out of whatever hole it’s gotten lost in, because I’m freezing. The skirt on this maxi dress might be long, but the fabric is way too thin to keep out the cold.

“How could you?”

“Make up some random thing that turned out to be true?” She scoffs, looking away again. But her foot is bouncing.

“You’re smart, Melissa. You knew there was a high probability that?—“

“Yeah, fine. Fuck.” She glances back at me, rolls her eyes. “But so did you.”

“That was a wild stab in the dark!” I point at her. “I had no idea?—”

“You’re smart, Haven,” she says dryly. “You knew there was a high probability that it was true.”

I don’t cut her off because I hate interrupting people. Or, I guess, because I don’t really have a defense.

She flinches when I storm over to her and hold out my hand. “Truce.”

Her hand is cool and soft, and I kind of hate her for being so perfect all the time. But I shake her hand anyway, and sherewards me with a micro smile before standing to brush off her matching knee-length skirt.

“Thank you, by the way,” I say.

“For what?”

“Standing up for me back there.”

“Yeah…” She crosses her arms again, leaning back on one foot to study me. “What is it with you two?”

I glance away, pinch the bridge of my nose, let out a long sigh. “We used to be friends way back. Like way,wayback.”

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