Page 39 of For Three Seconds

“Hold up, the last girl Gavin dated was in high school…Gigiwas your bestie?” she said with a disgusted tone.

Gavin hasn’t dated anyone since high school?

I didn’t even let the thought entertain.

“Since kindergarten,” I answered Kenny.

“Fuck the ice cream; we need wine. We’ve got to toast that you got rid of that bitch,” Kenny said as she went to get a bottle of wine from the kitchen.

Part of me was about to open my mouth to defend Gigi. She’d been my best friend for such a long time, and I’d failed her.

“Don’t even think about it.” Auds pointed her finger at me. “She was a bitch. She has always been a bitch; you didn’t see it.”

“Well, she must have had a magic pussy for Gavin to keep her around,” Delia mumbled, and my stomach dropped.

Hearing about their first time was one of the worst days. It was then that I knew that Gavin meant so much more than I let on. I was grateful Gigi never mentioned their sex life again.

“Now he’s a cold-hearted bastard, but he’s so hot,” Kenny said.

“What do you mean?” I found myself asking.

Kenny poured us wine. “He’s like a commitment-phobe. Nothing outside of sex. And he knows what he’s doing, but he’s never given a girl an inch. He’s a dick.”

“He was sweet,” I mumbled mostly to myself as I put my wine aside.

“Yeah, no, he’s an asshole,” Delia finished.

“Maybe ‘cause I was Gigi’s best friend, but he was always sweet to me,” I said because the guy they described was not the one I remembered. Hell, the one who I kept running into was not him either.

“He was not nice,” Audrey said in a loud snort. “He treated you like his little sister—sometimes better than he did Gigi.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from gasping. Nick’s words came back to taunt me, and I couldn’t deal with it, yet I wanted to dive into this mess and find all the secrets.

“Are you going to the party tomorrow?” Delia asked.

I was about to say no because I didn’t want to, and I obviously wasn’t wanted there, but I couldn’t walk away.

“Are you guys going?”

Kenny smiled and nodded. “Victory party.”

It looked like I had to find clothes for the party. Gavin didn’t want me there, and that made me want to be there. He didn’t get to take this experience away from me.

“Fucking you? It wasn’t that special.”

Nope, not special at all.

So why was I avoiding him if I clearly was nothing to him?

* * *

Once my lastclass ended on Friday, I felt an unease settle over me. It had nothing to do with all the homework I had, and everything to do with tonight’s party. Everyone was sporting school colors, the black and gold proudly displayed, and the students’ excitement for the first game buzzed through the air.

“Hey, stranger.” Isaac caught up to me.

“Hey,” I said.

“You ready for the game?” he asked.

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