Page 309 of Filthy Elites

“Like?”

My heart aches, and on the surface, I don’t want any more pain, but deep down, I know I should rip off the Band-aid. “Like you and Anae have an open relationship?”

He shakes his head. “No, we don’t.”

“You’re not allowed to fuck other girls?”

He misses a beat. “I am,” he says slowly. “But it’s not an open relationship.”

“How is that not an open relationship?”

He sighs, looking irritated. “You really want to talk about the mechanics of my relationship with Anae?”

“No. I don’t want there tobea relationship with Anae. I’m such a fucking simple-minded idiot, apparently, it never occurred to me you guys had some kind of arrangement. I just thought you liked me, and—”

“Idolike you,” he interrupts.

“I feel so stupid,” I say, raking my hands through my hair. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”

His jaw locks. I don’t expect this to go well. Honestly, I expect it will probably be the end. I have to play the crazy girl, and he has an ideal set-up with someone else. Why wouldn’t it?

He closes the distance between us, grabbing my jaw and forcing me to look up at him. “You said you were going to trust me. Do you?”

“Yes, but—”

“No, not but,” he says, not letting me finish. Slowly and deliberately, he says, “The deal was, if you trust me, I will not give you a reason not to. Wasn’t that the deal?”

My heart thuds. “Yes.”

He nods carefully, holding my gaze. “So why aren’t you trusting me?”

“Because there is an awful lot you left out.”

“Left out, yes. I didn’t lie about it.”

“That seems like a technicality. If I’m just one of many girls you feel like fucking aside from your girlfriend, I think I deserved to know that beforehand. I never would have…” I swallow, unable to get the awful words out.

His tone is calm, measured. “You never would have what?”

“Last night wouldn’t have happened,” I say softly.

The confession brings the sting of tears to my eyes. They’re glistening on the surface before I can stop them.

“Why are you crying?” he asks.

“Because you’re going to break my heart,” I whisper.

His grip on my jaw tightens. He directs my gaze back to his and looks me dead in the eye. “No, I am not.”

“You already are,” I tell him, trying to pull away, but he doesn’t let go. “I don’t know how Anae does it, but I can’t. I can’t be emotionally invested in someone who’s sleeping with other people. I didn’t ask before because it wasn’t my business and we weren’t even supposed to be… anything, but after last night…” I blink away the tears.

“Tell me what you need to feel better,” he says.

“I need you to break up with Anae,” I blurt.

His lips thin like he expected that to be my response, but he really hoped it wouldn’t be.

Thatfucking sucks.

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