Page 38 of Stealing Sunshine

Yet, I can’t stop my teeth from grinding as I swipe past the latest photo update of her and the man whose cock probably still has the shape of my foot imbedded in the shaft.

I might appear like I find it easy to hate people, but that’s not the case. In order to hate someone, you have to care about them in some way, shape, or form. Past or present. Usually, Ican’t be bothered. But with Vic, I’ve long since accepted that I truly do hate her. If that makes me a bad person, then so fucking be it.

She’s to blame for the pain I experienced for months after learning she’d taken my refusal to start a three-way relationship as a reason to cheat. Only she didn’t believe it was cheating. Not when she’d beenhonestabout wanting more than just me.

Could have broken up with me first before jumping into bed with her now fiancé, but what the hell do I know.

I squeeze my phone tight enough I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter in my hand and toss it across the desk.

“If I pick up your phone and I see a picture of Vic, I’m going to take it away from you for the next two weeks,” Poppy warns, appearing in front of the office door.

I scowl, leaning back in my chair. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s a terrible way to greet your best friend,” she says with a dramatic pout.

I eye her outfit, making a conclusion as to why she’s here just by the tight spandex shorts and cropped tank top. Her hair is in a tight, slicked-back ponytail, and her cheeks are still pale instead of flushed, so I must have been her first stop.

“It’s not Saturday. Don’t blame me for not expecting you.”

“You’re in a cranky mood today.”

I inhale, my eyes shutting as I reel myself back in. “Sorry.”

“You’re forgiven. Wanna talk about it?”

She rounds the desk and props herself against it, legs crossed at the ankles and expression open as she stares down at me. I lean forward and prop my chin in my palm.

This should be when I tell her that I have a “girlfriend.” It’s as good a time as any, but the longer it takes me to speak, the harder it is to tell the lie to her.

“You can tell me anything, Ice. You know that. Even if you think I’ll bug you about it, I promise to wait until you’re feeling better,” she adds teasingly.

I tilt my head and meet her eyes. A stab of guilt deep in my chest has me deciding to hold off on telling her about Daisy.

“I haven’t been sleeping well. And every time I go on social media, I see Vic and realize that I should just be the bigger person and block her,” I say.

“But if you block her, you won’t be able to see what she’s doing. I get it. We’re too snoopy for that.”

I nod. “If she posted something about me, how would I know if she’s blocked?”

“That’s valid. I’m all for keeping things the way they are as long as the real reason you haven’t blocked her is because you’re still into her. If there are feelings there?—”

“I’d rather pull each one of my nails off than have feelings for her again. That’s not it,” I declare.

And it’s the truth. I don’t want anything to do with that she-devil anymore. From the moment I caught her cheating and wound up spending a night in jail for breaking her now fiancé’s dick, I’ve written her off. The time apart has only furthered the chasm between us, and I’d rather slip inside of it and fall to my death than ever go back to the person I was with her.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t get random bursts of curiosity that lead me to her social media profiles.

Poppy laughs loudly, her face lighting up with humour. “Fair enough. Why aren’t you sleeping well? Your new roommate keeping you up?”

It takes more effort than it should to keep my breathing steady at the question when my heart jolts. I flatten my lips, contemplating what to say. How can I tell her that, yeah, it is because of my new roommate that I haven’t gotten more than a handful of hours of sleep at night?

Knowing Daisy is sleeping in the room beside mine is a temptation that I didn’t need. It’s a pain in my fucking ass and one that I know isn’t going away anytime soon.

Wetting my dry lips, I rip the Band-Aid off and get this over with. “She’s not only my roommate.”

Poppy waves me off. “Yeah, yeah. She’s also Johnny’s twin and our friend. I get it. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

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