Page 86 of The Chemistry of Us

Yet she just did.

For one more minute, I surrendered to her, to the fantasy I’d created in my head that said there was a person—a soulmate, one person put on this plane who saw you for you, who you could trust.

How stupid of me. How fucking stupid.

My smile was sad. I turned my back on her, and then I left.

Tru

He wasn’t pickingup his phone, which was weird. We’d had amazing sex, and when I woke up an hour later, he was gone.

Maybe he went back to the party?

I could hear it raging still. Did they ever sleep here?

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, grabbed some lip gloss, and went outside to find him.

But he was gone. And when I asked people where he was, they just looked at me, then down at the ground like they were afraid to make eye contact.

A loud commotion sounded above the music near the hot tub. Vaughan was in the middle of the tub with girls all around him, wearing basically nothing, and he was clearly drunk. My entire world felt like it was falling apart when he looked at one of them and smiled because how dare he!

That was my smile!

We’d just been together a few hours ago?

How did a person get that drunk in a matter of a couple of hours and forget he has a girlfriend?

Because that was what I was… his girlfriend, right?

He knew I wasn’t the kind of girl who slept around and said I love you when they didn’t mean it. He told me he loved me too.

Why was he doing this to me?

I waited for I don’t know what.

Maybe for my heart to start beating again?

The shock and dismay quickly turned into hurt, which shifted into hurt and rage.

Fists clenched, I marched over. “Vaughan? Are you kidding me right now?”

“Oh look, the liar,” he slurred. “You know you should really stop with the whole innocent act. It might make it easier on your victims.”

“Victims?”

What the hell was he talking about?

“Vaughan, you’re drunk and making an ass out of yourself and really pissing me off right now, so could you just get out of the hot tub?—”

“Nah, I’m in search of my next fling since clearly that’s about how important I am to you. You know everything after all, right? Or care to change your answer now?”

I seriously had no idea where he was going with this, but everyone was watching, and my heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to pass out. “Vaughan, let’s just go talk.”

“She means fuck.” He said it so loudly I’m sure the neighbors heard it. “Besides, I’m sure there’s a reason you didn’t say anything. Maybe you’re embarrassed by me, ashamed, maybe you just wanted to keep the upper hand. Who knows? What I do know is that you always swore to tell the truth until you didn’t.”

“I’ve always been honest with you!” I yelled. Tears were streaming down my face so fast that I could barely see. “What’s happening right now? I don’t understand!”

“Oh?” He turned to the girl next to him and smashed his mouth against hers. “Get it now?”

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