Page 67 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

Chapter34

Nikki

“Rochelle?”Tristan said her name as if asking a question, and my eyes widened at the brunette standing in front of me. “How did you get in here?”

She huffed and clucked her tongue, unfolding one of her arms from her chest to wave at the shop’s street entrance. “Your front door was unlocked. I tried calling you, darling. This was the time we arranged to meet, wasn’t it?”

She made a show of pulling out her phone, and a horrible dread punched itself into my chest, my body stiffening with the impact.

Tristan’s voice was deep and low as he said, “I didn’t agree to anything. You need to leave. Now.”

She scoffed and put her hands on her hips, but stayed fixed to the spot. “If you told me she was going to be here, I would’ve come later.”

I swallowed against the strain in my throat as her mocking, red-lipped grin spread. Then she flicked her dark eyes to me and said, “We were to have a little sleepover, darling. If I had known it was your turn, I might have made plans to stay in.”

“That’s a lie. Nikki, she’s lying. You can’t believe a thing she’s saying.”

I looked up at him, watching his eyes widen with panic.

“Why should I–” I broke off, not sure of what to do or say. This wasn’t really happening, was it? Tristan and I just… and that was real.

“Tristan, darling, if this arrangement is only going to upset her, do you really think it’s worth it?”

Rochelle’s painful goading deepened my confusion. I didn’t... I wasn’t… I believed him, didn’t I?

Tristan said he loved me and he meant it, I know he did. But the fake sympathy in her voice lit a match inside of me. Something was going on here. Tristan was keeping something from me. Otherwise, why would she be here?

Tristan’s hands fell on my shoulders as Rochelle tutted, and I shrugged away. I didn’t want him distracting me. I needed to know what this was, and his touch would only blur my concentration.

He stammered out, “Nikki, I swear, nothing is going on between her and me. I only want you. You have to believe me.”

I fought to keep my voice even. “You said things were over between the two of you.”

“They are! She’s been calling, but I’m not–”

“Oh, will you stop lying to the poor girl, darling? I told you I’d meet you here.”

Rochelle was getting impatient now. Huffy. As if she was the one being led on a wild goose chase. I did show up here on a whim. What happened between Tristan and I wasn’t planned. But maybe Rochelle being here was the plan. Maybe I was the intruder here.

His head snapped to her, and he spoke through his teeth. “I didn’t agree.”

I was good at reading people. I had to be. My job made it impossible not to be. Something was off here.

I couldn’t stop my voice from shaking, but I had to ask. “Even if you aren’t with her… you’re still in contact with her, aren’t you?”

When his gaze met mine, open, transparent and… apologetically guilty, I had my answer.

“You’re still lying to me,” I said softly, the shock of it gripping me hard, forcing my numbness to shift.

“Nikki, no. Please. You have to listen to me. There’s nothing going on here.”

I knew what to feel now. I was upset. Definitely angry. Hurt. “You’re lying right to my face.”

A laugh gurgled out of Rochelle, and I couldn’t take anymore.

“I swear, I’m not with her! I’m telling the truth!”

He reached out, trying to put his hands on me again, and I slapped his touch away, hating the look of desperate hurt he gave me, but hating the way my lower lip trembled even more.

“Maybe you should be,” I said, fighting to stay calm, looking back and forth between Rochelle’s satisfied smirk and his frantic desperation. “You two deserve each other.”

I rushed out with the sound of Tristan’s pleading and begging ringing in my ears.