AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ISABELLA
There wasnobody but me in the Rho Alpha Xi sorority house Sunday morning. Hell, to my knowledge, nobody had been there all night long. It had just been me in that old house, listening to the thunderstorm outside as the rain pelted against the building. I wanted so badly to have Blade’s arms wrapped around me, cradling me as I fell asleep.
Instead, I fell asleep by myself.
I was holed up in my bedroom, having crawled into bed the second I got home the previous night. All I wanted was for Emily to come in and take care of me, tell me everything would be okay even though I knew it wouldn’t. Instead, I was left to fend for myself as my sisters were all back home with their families.
To make matters worse, Blade had been blowing up my cell phone all night long. Sending me text messages and calling until a little past midnight, finally giving up as I cried myself to sleep. Every notification pulled at my heart because I wanted to believe him. But I couldn’t. My pride wouldn’t let me, not after working so hard to be free from Jason and my parents.
I rolled over in bed and stared at the cold, concrete wall. With my cell phone in hand, I started scrolling through pictures of Blade and me. We looked every bit the perfect couple in love, smiling as we gazed into each other’s eyes. He was my rock, a man I could rely on to take care of me.
And now I had to go back to taking care of myself.
Once I was done scrolling through our photos, I inevitably found myself staring at my ultrasound from nearly five years ago. The one that had sparked so much joy at the age of only seventeen years old, followed by heartbreak so devastating I thought I’d die.
At some point in the morning, I found the strength to get out of bed. I shuffled downstairs with the hopes that one of my sorority sisters had stayed behind. Maybe one of them had decided to stay another day and would be sleeping on the couch. She’d hug me and say that everything would be fine.
Nope.
It was only me in that massive, old house.
Grief washed over me as I stumbled to the couch and cried myself back to sleep. I had nowhere to go since my parents wanted nothing to do with me, and I was officially single. I’d have to shuffle back to Lenny’s and ask to work over the holidays when families would come in, and I’d fake a smile in hopes of a decent tip.
I woke up several hours later, made myself a cup of coffee, and sat outside in the gazebo. It was pretty empty out except for a few students who would also be spending winter break on campus. The chilly, nighttime air made me hug myself as I rocked back and forth, trying to think of what to do. I kept wondering where Blade was. I wondered if he had stayed in Fort Wayne or was already on his way back home.
The sound of a car pulling up jolted me, stealing my attention. And there he was, staring back at me.
“Before you say anything,” Blade said, “hear me out.”
“Why are you here?”
He shook his head and took a few steps closer. As much as I wanted to run inside away from him, I also wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Yes, Aiden and I made a bet that I couldn’t get you into bed.”
“Stop it,” I demanded, not wanting to hear him make excuses.
But he stood his ground and held his hands up. “Please. Let me say what I need to say, and then I’ll leave.”
I regretfully sat back down in the gazebo. A part of me, I suppose, needed closure one way or the other. “Fine.”
“When we first started seeing each other, yes, that was my plan. Aiden and I have kept track of every girl we’ve slept with since our freshman year.”
My stomach dropped as I tried to think of the number. “Where are you going with this?”
“If you want the number, I’ll tell you.”
“No,” I hissed.
“Good,” he replied. “Because I lost count. Anyway, Aiden has always wanted to beat me but realized that he couldn’t. At least, not until I had to cut back because of school. And yes, that’s where you came in.”
“That’s fucking childish,” I said, hoping that it didn’t need to be said. It’s the kind of thing horny teenage boys dream up and never follow through on because laying women is much more difficult than they suspected.
“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “It absolutely is, and I was a fucking idiot. But I fell in love with you, Isabella.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said, wiping away the tears that pooled at the corner of my eyes.
“If I hadn’t made that stupid, immature, and childish bet with Aiden, then I never would have pursued you, Isabella. And you wanna know why? Because you’re way out of my league.”
