Page 43 of Ruthless Deliverance

Beau paces behind Armani, trying to tell her something as she picks up on his erratic behavior, looking to me. “What do you know that he doesn’t want me to know?”

“Not a fuckin’ thing,” Beau says. When my eyes dart to him, he mouths, “Keep your fuckin’ mouth shut.”

The truth’s not very plentiful in my life right now, but I’m not going to lie to her. “Only thing I know is what I saw.”

“Which is what?” Armani asks, pulling away from Beau as he grabs her arm. She shakes him off, yelling at him. “You fuckin’ pig.” Then she looks to me. “I wanna know.”

She already knows. “He was having sex with some girl at the field.”

Beau surges forward, his fist pounding on the table. “Stop lying, bitch.”

“It’s true,” Creed says bluntly while Beau looks to him with horror.

I believe Armani knew the truth even before she asked but needed the confirmation from another source. And I really wish I weren’t that source right now. Because the misery on her face as her tears fall and she runs off is worse than giving Beau another reason to hate me. The latter I can deal with. But I know the feeling Armani is going through now, and it’s one of the worst.

Standing, I grab my bag and hurry after her to the shouts of Beau calling me a liar. While partly true, it’s not for what he’s accusing me of. He really should do the girl a favor and leave her alone. He’s been nothing but a sleazeball.

Jogging down the corridor, I spot Armani going into the restroom and follow her, pushing the door open. She’s nowhere in sight until I spot her shoes once I glance under the stalls.

“I’m sorry,” I breathe, meaning it fully and only receive muffles sobs in return. “I’m here if you need someone to talk to.”

“I knew it already. I just didn’t want to believe it.” Her voice is broken, her posture defeated as the stall door swings open and she steps out. “He was my first.”

“That really makes it hard. My first cheated on me too.”

“How’d you get past it?”

“That’s a loaded question … I’m not sure I ever did. I haven’t been in a serious relationship since.” Casual sex without strings was the easiest. And that’s what I’ve been doing until now. It’s not like it’s serious with Creed, but there sure as hell are some strings attached. And I don’t want to know what’ll happen after they’re yanked tighter or severed completely. Neither sound enticing at the moment.

37

CREED

She’s up and hurrying across the café, and I’m not far behind. Beau is on my heels, yapping as I see Dani slip into the bathroom.

“I thought you had my back. And you’re gonna sell me out for some pussy—some pussy she’s never gonna give up to you.”

I don’t need him to know he doesn’t know a fuckin’ thing about what’s going on between her and I. But he is gonna shut his mouth. Gripping his blazer, I shove him away hard enough to slam his back into a locker. His shock is evident as he freezes up and stares at me.

“I’m your best friend, and you chose that bitch over me.”

“Ethan. He was my best friend. You’ll never be. And stop using me as a cover while you’re dicking around.”

“It’s her. This is about her. You never would’ve sold me out before.”

“No. I may have had a higher bullshit tolerance before, but I’m done with your shit.” I release his lapels, taking every ounce of strength I have to step back because all I want to do is smash in his face. But my reasons have less to do with his lies and more to do with the ones I’m hiding.

Luckily, he walks away because I’m not sure I could’ve after another minute or two. The more time that goes by as I stand waiting for Dani, the more I realize it is her. Everything changed after Ethan, then she came along and shook things up again, shook me up. I don’t know if it was in a good way or a bad way, though, because I feel like I’m barreling down the road without an end in sight.

It’s about twenty minutes before I see Armani and Dani emerge from the bathroom. Armani’s eyes are puffy from crying I’m guessing, but she gives me a pissy look as she walks by. “You should’ve told me.”

Yes. Probably should’ve, but I’d tried to stay out of it. I didn’t go out of my way to lie for Beau, but I didn’t deny when he used me as a cover either.

“I had to,” is all Dani says to me as she walks past. She’s not getting off the hook that easy. But it’s not the BS with Beau that I need her to stick around for.

“I know,” I say when I fall in step beside her and grasp her hand in mine. “We’re leaving.”

“It’s the middle of the day. We still have classes.”