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“How fucking dare you?” I seethe, hands balling into fists at my sides. Before I can even think about punching him, someone wraps their arms around my waist and hauls me back. I’m too angry to tell who it is.
“I know you’re pissed at me, but these are your best fucking friends. Do you really think so little of them? They’re good men. Better than you.” I shake my head, disgusted. “Better than you’ll ever be.”
Matt glances down for the first time since he stormed in here, finally looking a little ashamed of himself. Good. He should be ashamed.
“What was I supposed to think?” he asks, but there’s less venom in his voice now.
“I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. I don’t even understand why you’re so upset when you’re already fucking someone else.” The truth tastes bitter on my tongue. “You moved on like our relationship was nothing.”
Like I was nothing. That I meant so little to him. I gave him so much of myself and got next to nothing in return. That’s a big reason why I fell out of love with him. He’s too selfish, only concerned about what he wants.
He scowls at me. “Did you ever even love me?”
The question slams into me, so appalling I have to take a moment to process it. How dare he question my feelings after everything? After a year of making excuses for his change in behavior, of tiptoeing around his moods, of being the perfect girlfriend while he treated me like garbage?
Hudson saves me the trouble of responding. “If you have to ask her that, you’re dumber than I thought.” He shakes his head in disgust. “We all saw it, Matt. Lily loved you and you treated her like shit.”
A vein in Matt’s forehead pulses as he looks at his friends, eyes burning with anger and hurt. “Don’t think I didn’t see the way you watched her when you came over. You liked my girl and wanted her for yourselves, didn’t you?”
None of the guys deny it. The silence stretches taut between us, loaded with implications I’m not ready to examine but my stomach flutters all the same. They liked me for that long?
“Well, now you fucking have her,” Matt snarls, giving me a disgusted once-over that makes my skin crawl. “Don’t worry, Lily. Soon enough they’ll see what I did. You’re so fucking worthless your dad didn’t even want you.”
The words land exactly how he wanted, each one finding its mark. Tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. No more crying for Matt.
Cole pushes on his chest. “Get out.”
“Come on man, she’s a slu—” Matt starts.
Gage and Hudson grab his arm and drag him toward the door.
“Let me go,” Matt snarls, thrashing, though it’s no use. The guys are stronger than he is.
Hudson opens the front door and they push him outside. “Leave before we do something we’ll all regret.”
“Un-fucking-believable. Fuck all of you.” He spares me one last vicious look before storming to his car.
Hudson shuts the door, trapping us in sudden, suffocating silence. My heart hammers against my ribs, adrenaline still coursing through my system. I can’t quite believe what just happened. The guys look at each other, and I turn and flee to my room before I can see them all realize that maybe I’m not worth losing a lifelong friendship over.
I have my suitcase on the bed, half of my stuff already shoved into it, when the guys come into the room they’re letting me stay in. I can’t bring myself to look at them.
“What are you doing?” Hudson asks.
“I’m leaving,” I say, shaking my head. “I never should have come.”
“Don’t say that,” Cole murmurs.
Avoiding eye contact, I head back to the closet and take down another dress, determined to get out of their life before I fuck it up beyond repair. I head to the suitcase, but the guys are in front of it, arms crossed.
I brace myself for their frustration. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Gage demands, anger flashing across his face.
“For messing up your friendship.”
“You didn’t,” Hudson says, shaking his head. “Matt’s been a terrible friend for a long time.”
“Even still.” I try to move around them to set the dress in the suitcase, but he catches my arm and pulls me toward him. “I have to go,” I tell him.
