Page 30 of The Fallacy of True Love
“You have five seconds to leave or I’m screaming the street down.”
My brows swung up. “I’m renting a room here.”
Her eyes shot daggers at me. “I live here.”
Oh. “I guess we’re housemates then.”
I would have laughed at the look of sheer horror on her face if it weren’t for the very real fear that she’d sucker punch me.
A single “ha!” broke through the terse silence, and I realized it had come from me. Guess alcohol slowed down the reception time between my brain and my mouth.
“You’re mistaken,” she declared with such utter certainty that I second-guessed my version of events.
No. You’re better than that, even with the beers. “If you’re going to pass it off as a typo like you did earlier, you should know I met Inang this afternoon and paid for my stay,” I told her. “The spare room is mine for the night.”
She stared at me. “But—you’re rich. Why aren’t you staying at a hotel?”
“Newsflash, Cam. Just because I live in Manila doesn’t mean I’m rich.”
“You rented a villa last time.”
My eyes widened, and she huffed out a breath.
“You practically announced it to everyone at the café,” she said, exasperation in her voice.
Realization dawned, and right at its heels came the memories of that trip. “I wasn’t the one who paid,” I muttered before emptying my bottle.
“Don’t tell me—your girlfriend did?”
The bottle almost slipped from my hand.
Her mouth fell open. “Shit. She di?—”
“Don’t,” I snapped.
She pressed her lips together but judgment was written all over her face.
“Damn it.” Leaning forward, I put my empty bottle on the ground next to the others and grabbed a fresh one.
She folded her arms over her chest. “Gonna drink yourself to sleep?”
“Not planning to, but if it happens—” I shrugged and popped the cap with my keychain. I lifted the open bottle. Hesitated. Then I held it out to her. “Truce?”
Staring at the bottle, she sighed. “One night, you said?”
“I have to be back in Manila by Monday morning.”
She took the beer. “Consider this me saving you from a hangover.”
“Ha! You're welcome.” I grabbed another one and popped it open too.
With a shake of her head, she stuck her key into the doorknob, not knowing I’d left it unlocked. “Don’t be noisy and don’t throw up inside the house.”
Wouldn’t you know it, but she added another walk-out to my growing tally.
Cam
Drinking the lukewarm beer, I dialed Nikki from the safety of my bedroom. My bedroom that was right beside Alonzo’s.
