Page 43 of Until Forever Falls

She angles her head, considering me like I’m an equation that doesn’t quite add up. “Please, you can’t honestly believe he sees you as anything but a charity case?” Her tone is unimpressed as she exhales sharply. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. Eventually, even saints get tired. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Beckett steps in, his presence settling over the moment like an unspoken warning. “What’s going on?” His tone is calm, but there’s an edge to it, like a blade waiting to be unsheathed.

Chloe lifts her chin. “Just explaining something to Dylan.”

“Yeah?” Beckett challenges, unmoved. “And what’s that?”

“That she’s wasting her time.”

“Funny,” Colt drawls, stepping in lazily. “You seem a little too invested for an ex-girlfriend. Sounds more like jealousy.”

“Oh, please. Warning a girl that she’s wasting her time on a guy? I’m just being honest.”

“Right,” Colt says. “You sure this isn’t about you, though?” He tilts his head, letting the question settle before continuing. “Because if I recall, you weren’t exactly faithful to Brooks.”

Chloe’s nails dig into her arms where they’re crossed over her chest. “Screw you, Colt.”

My skin prickles with heat, Chloe’s words still biting. “Brooks and I are just friends,” I blurt, desperate to shut this down before it spirals further.

Colt watches Chloe, not me, his smirk creeping into place. “Sure, and Chloe and Brooks were the perfect couple…wait, except for the part where she was crawling into Miles’ bed when no one was looking.”

The color drains from Chloe’s face, her mask slipping for half a second before she catches it. But half a second is long enough. Her glare cuts to Miles like a knife as he approaches, her face burning an angry shade of crimson. With a sharp pivot she storms off like a villain exiting stage left.

“Well, that was dramatic,” Colt mutters, rocking back on his heels with a satisfied expression.

I can barely process his words. My mind is stuck on the revelation he just unleashed. Chloe cheated on Brooks…with Miles?

My stomach lurches as I glance at Miles. He’s unnervingly still, his fingers curled loosely at his sides, lips pressed into a flat, unreadable line.

“What. The. Fuck?” Beckett asks, his stare bouncing between them.

Miles sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know?” Beckett presses, confused. “Brooks is like your best friend.”

Miles clears his throat, his jaw shifting as if he’s trying to piece his words together carefully. “It was right after I got back from my dad’s cabin last summer. There was a party, and—”

“She took his virginity,” Colt interjects. “Hell of a first time, huh?”

“I didn’t know they’d just started dating. I wouldn’t have…touched her if I’d known.”

Colt shifts closer, bracing both hands on Miles’ shoulders, steadying him just enough to say don’t stress it. “That girl has always known how to leave a mess behind.”

Oblivious to the conversation, Brooks moves toward us, still half absorbed into whatever’s on his phone. “Who does?”

The hush that follows is suffocating, pressing against my skin like a second layer. I scan their faces, but no one steps in to answer. My pulse kicks against my ribs as I finally speak. “Uh, Chloe.”

Brooks raises an eyebrow, looking between us. “Chloe?” His eyes sharpen, suspicion flickering. “What’d she say this time?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I rush to say, though the words feel like a lie.

Colt snorts. “Oh, it matters. She’s out here making Dylan feel like your personal pity project.”

Brooks’ jaw flexes, tension creeping into his voice. “She said that?”

“Yep. And then we had a lovely little trip down memory lane,” Colt says, dragging out the words like he’s savoring them.

“What memory lane?”

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