Page 94 of No One Else

“Natalie’s dating Carter again,” I interrupt him, staring out the window.

“What?”

“Yeah, they’re goingthree years strongaccording to one of the hashtags Carter used. And yet, he’s also sitting there in Sigma Chi house right now, letting another girl grind on his lap and give him hickeys.”

“Evan, I’m sorry-”

“I don’t get it. I treat her like a fucking princess and she still goes back to him. Is it the money? The entitled attitude? Or maybe she’s just a glutton for punishment. Likes being treated like shit. Well, sorry I couldn’t treat you worse, Natalie. I’m a real fuckup that way.”

Luke stays silent next to me, turning on the street that takes us to his apartment rather than my house. Then again, he doesn’t know where I live because I’ve never fucking invited him over. My best friend and I haven’t trusted him enough not to make fun of my dad, even though I know he’d never do something like that.

He parks in front of his building, and suddenly just the thought of climbing the stairs up there makes me slightly nauseous. I turn to look at him, his blue eyes piercing me with their intensity, like he can see right through me. I close my own, as if that will block him from reading me.

“I’d invite you over to my house, but I don’t want my dad to see me like this.”

“I figured as much.”

“But I want you to come over sometime and meet him. You guys would get along. You’re a lot alike.”

“Okay,” he says, sounding bewildered at my change of topic. “Do you-” he clears his throat loudly. “Do you want to talk any more about the Natalie thing? I can listen if you need to vent.”

I roll my lips in between my teeth, mulling over his question. “She told me I was an alpha asshole. Gave me all these reasons she couldn’t trust me, why she had to break up with me, but every time I think about it, the same things apply to Carter. Why does he get a pass and I don’t?”

“I don’t know.” I open my eyes to find him shaking his head sadly. “This is all... pretty out of nowhere.”

“Has- has she mentioned me to Charlotte?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

“She said she loved me,” I tell him, smaller than I intended for it to come out. “She seemed so sincere. I thought-” I swallow, emotion suddenly rising within me. “I thought we were going to be together forever.” My voice breaks on the last word and I close my eyes again, not wanting him to see me like this.

He takes it in stride, though, unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching across the center console to pull me into a bone-crushing hug. All I can do is passively receive it, afraid that if I try in any way to return it, I’ll break down right here in the middle of his apartment complex parking lot.

We go upstairs after that, playing Tekken until I pass out on his couch, nightmares of running into Natalie and Carter out together tormenting me through the night.

23

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