AllFreeNovel
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I put the bowl of color down on the towel I’m sitting on as I spot Eli’s red-stained hands.
“Eli, your hands.”
“It’ll wash off, right?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure,” I tell him, not informing him that his entire team is going to realize he colored his girlfriend’s hair when they see his red hands tomorrow. Thankfully he’ll be wearing gloves most of the time.
“So now what?” he asks. “You wash it out?”
“In thirty minutes, I will.”
He nods his head, taking in all this new information. “Can I do it again next time?”
“Sure,” I laugh. “If you want to.”
“I want to.”
A knock at my door calls for our attention as Ali walks in. I don’t know if I’m more surprised that she knocked or that she’s willing to face Marc’s brother right now.
“Hey,” she says in a quiet voice.
“Hey, Al. You okay?”
“Can I talk to you? Sorry for interrupting.”
“I guess I’ll head out.” Eli turns to me. “But I’ll be back because I’m sleeping in your bed with you tonight,” he adds, reminding me once again that he had to sleep alone last night.
Eli bends down and quickly kisses me, avoiding both my hair dye and Ali’s eye contact before turning towards the door.
“Maddison,” Ali says, stopping him. “I’m sorry for hurting your brother.”
Eli looks over her shoulder, back to her, and nods before leaving my room, closing the door behind him.
“Are you okay?” I take a seat on the edge of my bed next to my friend.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you the full story last night.”
My heart instantly drops at the thought that Ali may have actually slept with that guy last night. At this point, I think she might still have a chance to fix things if she wants to, but if she had sex with someone else, I can’t imagine Marc will be so forgiving.
“No.” Ali quickly shakes her head, answering my unspoken question. “I promise I didn’t sleep with someone else.”
She takes a deep breath as she sits on my bed, opposite me. “I didn’t tell you the full story last night,” she repeats. “In fact, I’ve never told you the full story.”
“Okay?”
“You know how I told you I didn’t know why I was holding back when it came to being with Marc? Why I couldn’t give in to the way I felt?”
I nod.
“I lied. I know exactly why. The reason I don’t do boyfriends is because before I moved here, I was in a relationship, and I didn’t like the person I was.” She shakes her head. “Shit, I didn’t even know the person I was.”
My mouth falls open. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She drops her head, looking down as she fiddles with her fingers in her lap. “Because I was embarrassed,” she shyly adds.
“Why?”
“Because I was a different person, Logan, and I don’t want you or anyone here to know that version of me.” Her mocha eyes are glossy, looking directly at me. “This whole confident thing where I unapologetically say whatever is on my mind, this is all new to me. I feel like such a fucking fraud, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I feel like it’s all falling apart,” she cries, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
