Please, no.
I pull up the message thread with shaking hands, scrolling to that text.
My phone was?—
In the bathroom, charging. Where Jade could have easily seen the preview light up the screen.
Oh, God.
I call the unknown number before I can talk myself out of it.
She answers on the second ring, sounding delighted. "Dev! I wasn't sure you'd call."
"What the fuck are you doing?" I keep my voice low, even though the locker room is empty. "Why are you texting me that shit? Why are you here?"
There’s a brief pause, then she responds in an icy tone. “I told you. I wanted to clear the air."
"There's nothing to clear. I told you in New York—it was amistake. A drunken, stupid mistake I regret every single day.Youneed to stop contacting me."
There's a pause. When she speaks again, her voice has cooled significantly. "Is that really how you want to play this, Dev?"
"Don't call me that."
"You didn't mind when I called you that in my hotel room."
My grip tightens on the phone. "Nothinghappened in that room, Mila. I kissed you—once—and then I stopped. I passed out in that fucking chair and woke up hating myself. That's it."
"That's it?" She laughs softly. "Is that the version you told your wife?"
What?
My vision blurs, and I grit my teeth as she continues.
"Because," Mila continues, her voice like silk, "there was a lot more than one kiss. You followed me upstairs, Devon. I danced for you. Then you helped me out of my dress. You?—"
“Idid not!I would remember!”
"Would you? You could barely stand by the end of the night. You kept saying my name, reaching for me?—"
She’s fucking lying!
“Stop it!”
"I'm not trying to hurt you." Her tone shifts, filling with concern. "I'm trying to help you remember what actually happened. Because if Jade ever asks me directly, I won't lie for you."
The threat slams into my stomach, and I close my eyes.
"Youwouldn't."
"I don'twantto. But you're acting likeI'mthe villain here, Dev, when we both know you came to my room willingly. You kissed me willingly. Whatever happened after that—" She pauses. “Well. Only you and I know that.”
I don't.
That's the thing that's clawing at my insides right now—I don't know. I remember the kiss—I can remember stopping it and telling her it was wrong. I remember sinking into that chair, and the room spinning, and then... nothing. Blackness until I woke up sick and disoriented with Jade's face on my phone screen.
But Mila sounds so certain.
What if I'm wrong? What if I did something I can't remember?
