Page 33 of Bloodween

“He can be petty—we both can—but never this long.” She nibbled on her lip. “Okay,” she said, lifting her hands, “I did text him that I knew all the shit he was hiding—what I saw on his iPad.”

I winced because I had seen those texts when I went through their messages.

“Did I go a smidge off the rails? Yes. But you know how I can get. He was ignoring me when earlier that day I already had to deal with some bitch sending me a photo of him in her bed. That’s why⁠—”

“You didn’t tell me that!” This time, I was genuinely intrigued.

“I was too embarrassed.” She shook her head. “He was playing me. For all I know he left the party and went to that hoe house. Was he still there when you left?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “And I left probably five minutes after you said you were on your way back.”

“I shoulda brought my ass back then instead of getting caught up.” She sighed. “I wanna be like fuck him, but also ghosting me is insane. What the hell?”

“That shows what kind of man he is. You deserve better, Ren. Sitting around worried about his cheating ass for what? Do you even want to still be with him?”

“No, but⁠—”

“See!” I nudged her shoulder. “That but tells me all I need to know.”

After experiencing the D, I couldn’t fault her. But what kind of friend would encourage staying with a cheater? Even if…

“You don’t understand, Armisha. You don’t understand what we have—what we had.”

“You’re right,” I said, pushing my hair out of my face. “Because a cheating man is gonna keep doing him if you allow it.”

“It’s more than that.”

“How?”

She paused, staring at me, fidgeting. “Remember at the party when I told you I had something to tell you?”

My head cocked to the side. “Yeah.”

“It’s… it’s something super crazy, and I don’t know how to say it, because I don’t know how you’re gonna react.”

I squinted my eyes, fearing the worst. “Ren… are you pregnant?”

She jerked her head back. “Absolutely not.”

Whew. I might’ve felt bad if she were.

Okay, probably not.

“Promise you’re not gonna think I’m bullshitting you, because I’m not. This is the truth. It’s something I’ve been keeping.”

“Just spit it out.”

“Do you believe in ghosts and shit like that?”

“Renna…”

“I’m a werewolf.”

Oh, now I’m worthy of the secret. Well, too late for that.

I stared at her for a beat before laughing.

“Armi, this is not funny. I’m not joking.”