Page 60 of Don't Let Me Go (Don't Let Me 2)

“Who says I’m bottling anything up?”

She arches her brow, daring me to argue with her.

And dammit. The girl has a point.

Pursing my lips, I take another sip of cinnamon tea and let out a groan. “Fiiiine. I’m bottling shit up because it’s not a big deal. Nothing’s bothering me. Well”––I press the brim of the cup to my lips again, then pause––“other than the usual.”

“Theo?” she assumes.

I dip my chin and take another sip of tea. The liquid is almost cool now, like the memory of Theo’s kisses, but I drink it down anyway.

“What happened?” Mia prods.

Memories of Theo’s hands on my body rise to the surface, and my face heats up like a sinner in church.

Man, his hands. The way I freaking rode his face. Like, who does that? I don’t know how I’m going to look him in the eye ever again.

Mia’s jaw drops, the streetlight’s glow from the window lighting up her surprised features when I stay silent too long. “No freaking way.”

I blink and curl further into the cushions, pressing the mug to my chest, but I don’t say a word.

“No. Freaking. Way,” she repeats.

“Stop saying it like that,” I whine, finally giving in.

“You slept with him?” Her voice is pitchy and way louder than anyone’s should be at four o’clock in the morning.

My attention darts to the dark hallway where Kate is still––hopefully––blissfully asleep. “Dude,” I scold. “Keep your voice down.”

“Sorry.” She follows my gaze and looks down the still dark hallway, confirming she hasn’t woken Kate up. She turns back to me and lowers her voice to a whisper. “But seriously. You slept with Theo?”

Technically, there was no sleeping, I think to myself then mutter, “Maybe?”

“Maybe?” She laughs. “You either did or you didn’t. There’s no in between.”

“I mean, there could be, right? He could’ve passed out mid thrust or––”

“Blake.”

“Okay, fine,” I snap. “Yes. I slept with Theo.”

“And?”

“And…I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing, I guess?”

“Well, yeah. It’s kind of a big deal, Blake.”

My lips purse, and I gulp more tea. “Duh. But at least I came to one conclusion.”

“And what’s that?”

“It will never happen again.” My spine straightens with determination.

But the pride I expect to see on Mia’s face is absent. Instead, she simply frowns and asks, “Why not?”

Well, for one, there was a bet involved, and second, I had to twist the bastard's arm, I think to myself, but I bite my tongue, refusing to admit it out loud because it sounds so much worse than acknowledging the truth in my head.

I can’t believe I was so stupid. And desperate.

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