Page 54 of Unbelonging
"Of course you didn't want me there," I said. "If you had wanted me there, you'd have actually, oh I don't know,invitedme."
"Let me ask you something," he said. "If I'd asked, would you have come?"
The question lingered in the open air as Chucky darted after a blue jay, barking like an idiot when it flew off its low-hanging branch. Watching, I thought about Lawton's question. Would I have come? Not if I'd known Brittney would be there, that's for sure.
"I don’t know," I admitted.
"Yeah?" His voice was hard. "I thought so."
"But you invited Brittney," I said.
"And you know this, how?"
"Does it matter?" I asked. "So youdidinvite her?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, she was part of some general invitation. It was no big deal."
"Sure," I said. "No big deal."
"Sothat'swhat you're mad about?" He sounded almost relieved. And for some reason, that only made me more irritated.
I gave him a dirty look. "I'm not mad," I said. "Alright?"
With his free hand, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't get you, Chloe."
"There's nothing to get," I said. "I'm a pretty simple person."
"You?" He stopped walking to laugh in my face. "Simple?" He shook his head. "No. You're a lot of things, but simple isn't one of them."
"You want it simple?" I held up my index finger. "Okay, one simple question. Did you, or did you not, sleep with Brittney last night?"
His face froze. "What do you mean?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh c'mon, let's not embarrass either of us by pretending you don’t know exactly what I’m asking."
His lips were clamped into a thin line, and I couldn’t help but notice he wasn't quite meeting my eyes. My stomach clenched.
He blew out a breath. "What do you want me to say?"
"The truth." I could handle it. Probably.
"Alright." He glanced down at his shoes. "Yes."
Chapter 31
In spite of my brave thoughts, the admission felt like a kick to the gut. I closed my eyes as images of Lawton with Brittney flashed through my brain. Somehow, each image was worse than the last, but somehow, I was powerless to stop them.
When I opened my eyes, Lawton was looking at me with an anguished expression. "Chloe," he began.
"What about her friend? Amber?" I said. "You sleep with her too?"
He pushed a hand through his hair.
"Well?" I said.
He looked away. "Yeah. Well, she was there. I don't really want to get into it."
Slowly, I shook my head. I guess it wasn't a surprise. Not really. But somehow, I was hoping for another explanation, a misunderstanding, whatever. God, I was such an idiot.
