Page 54 of Not Mine To Love

I shook my head and tried not to blush at the sound of Julius’ name. “I’m sure he’s busy,” I mumbled, stuffing my mouth with cereal.

“Really?” Dad held up something that looked exactly like Julius’ wallet. I could feel myself turning red. “Next time Julius decides to go sneaking out windows, remind him to at least NOT leave his wallet on the floor.”

He tossed me the wallet, and I caught it. Dad laughed, ruffled my hair and got on the phone with Lori.

I groaned and shut myself in my room.

“There you are,” a voice said from the window. “I think Mrs. Nguyen is getting suspicious. Have you seen my wallet?”

I stared at Julius in shock. He was still outside my bedroom window. At least he was fully dressed,. “What are you still doing here?”

“I left my wallet. I can’t drive without my wallet.”

I tossed it to him. “Now go home,” I hissed.

“I’ll call you later,” he promised.

“I won’t answer.”

He winked at me. “Yes, you will.”

He blew me a kiss and scrambled away. I watched him leave with a smile on my face that slowly faded as I thought of the enormity of what we had done. How could something feel so right but be so wrong?

8

There was determination in my steps as I made my way to the entrance of Claire’s home. Her home was located in a rich gated community clear across town from where I lived. The gatekeeper readily waved me in having seen me several times already.

I decided to give myself a break and unplug for the weekend. It was what I needed to do before I had to tell Ana the truth.

I decided that I was going to just walk up to her and tell her. I was going to tell her that I betrayed her trust in more ways than one. It was going to be hard, but I couldn’t keep lying to her. She was the innocent one in all this. I didn’t care that Julius tried to convince me that she would be okay with us seeing each other. I didn’t believe him. No woman was okay with sharing a man. As far as I was concerned, that just wasn't the way the world worked.

And even if she was okay with it, I wouldn’t be. I wasn’t going to share Julius with Ana. I simply couldn’t. I loved him too much to share him with anyone.

First, I would start with Claire. “I’m done lying, Claire. I quit,” I said as soon I saw her. Thankfully, she was alone and just getting off the phone with someone.

She barely glanced at me. “Fine. I don’t need you anymore anyway. I have what I need.”

What did she mean by that? And why wasn’t she upset? Wasn’t this her cue to throw a tantrum and threaten me? Why was she so calm about it?

“What are you talking about? What do you mean, you have what you need?” She couldn’t possibly know about what was going on between me and Julius. God, I hoped she didn’t. But the look on her face, that smirk, made me think otherwise.

She shook her head. “It was all so easy. Tell me something: did you fall into bed with him the first minute you met him, or did you at least wait a few hours?”

My mouth fell open, and my stomach churned. I was caught between shock and utter disbelief.

I was speechless, but Claire wasn’t. “You’re disgusting… almost as bad as he is.”

I was shocked by her words, and tears welled up in my eyes. “How dare you?”

“Don’t you dare pretend to be virtuous and sweet! I know what you’ve done!”

“Mom, Becca, what’s going on here?” Ana came into the study and looked from me to her mother.

Calmly, her mother pulled an envelope out of her desk and handed it to Ana.

“Ana, I’m sorry to hurt you, but you need to see these.”

I frowned, wondering what she had to show her. Her eyes seemed victorious. What exactly had she won? Why was she looking so smug?