Page 80 of Never Gonna Lie
What is it with this woman and bathrooms?
“Can I help you?” I mumble, my good mood quickly vanishing.
She drops her arms and saunters toward me, her heels clicking against the tiled floor. “No, but I can helpyou,” she says.
I raise an eyebrow, wondering where she’s going with this.
“I told you he wasn’t interested, but you didn’t listen,” she carries on.
I blink, my body frozen.
She pulls out a folded-up envelope from her clutch and hands it to me. “Maybe now you’ll back off and stop throwing yourself at what belongs to me,” she sneers.
I take the envelope, my hands shaking as I remove photos—photos of her and James kissing in his office. Each one gets worse, and tears blur my vision.
No, he wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t. Would he?
We’re not exclusive. We haven’t put a label on whatever we are. I’ve just been staying in his house and letting him fuck me while he’s been fucking around with other women. The proof is in my hands.
My chest aches as tears run down my cheeks. “Why? Why are you doing this?” I ask.
She plucks the photos out of my hand, placing them back in her bag. “Because, sweetie. He never belonged to you, and now you know. James is my fiancé, so kindly take your skanky ass and leave us alone.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and walks out of the bathroom, leaving me in a pool of despair.
Fiancé?
My mind can’t comprehend what just happened. My breathing jerks as I start to feel faint, a panic attack well on its way. Without thinking, I rush out of the bathroom and toward the nearest exit, bumping into people along the way, but I don’t care. I brush the tears from my eyes as I run to anywhere but here.
“Raven,” I hear a voice call, but I keep going.
I need air.
My throat feels like it’s closing in, choking me as I fight through the tears claiming me. A relieved sob escapes me as I see the green exit sign. I push through the door and gulp in the night air when a cloth covers my face, and I black out.
Chapter Fifty-Two
JAMES
Adjusting my trousers and shirt, I walk back into the ballroom, a smirk on my face.
“I know that face,” Caleb says, his own smirk staring back at me.
I wish I could wipe the grin off my face, but I can’t. Raven makes me happy, happier than I’ve ever felt in my goddam life.
“What was it you said, Caleb? ‘A gentleman never tells?’” I grin as Theo hands me a beer.
“Spill.”
“What are we? A bunch of gossiping women?” I groan. “Get a life, one that isn’t preferably in mine.”
Theo pouts. “But I thought we were besties? You braided my hair that one time?—”
“Theo!” I glance around, my eyes wide. “We said we’d never talk about that night again.”
He holds a finger up at me while Caleb looks on in question. “Ah,yousaid to never talk about it again. I made no such promise.”
Caleb chokes out a laugh. “What did I miss now?”
“Well, Caleb, darling—” Theo begins, but I clamp a hand over his mouth.
