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All this time, Patty didn’t speak. Should I say something to her? Beg her not to tell Daphne? Tell her nothing had happened between Wendy and me? Other than a few slaps and tickles, but that was nothing.
Nothing. Best not to say anything.
“Fuck you!” Wendy’s voice carried from the bedroom. “You can just fuck off, Bradford Steel. I don’t care if I never see you again!”
“Yup,” Murph said, “that’s Wendy.”
“Who’s Wendy?” Patty finally asked.
“Steel’s girlfriend.”
“Not my girlfriend,” I said adamantly.
“Okay, his on-again, off-again girlfriend.”
“We are permanently off-again,” I said. “Excuse me.”
I went back into my bedroom and threw Wendy’s clothes on the bed. “Get dressed.”
“You’re a cocksucker, Brad. A prick. A fucking prick.”
Words. Just words. I’d heard them all before.
Wendy had an amazing mind, and I’d realized recently that with genius came crazy, at least for Wendy. Not just a little cuckoo as I’d always known, but big crazy. Big out-of-her-mind crazy.
I couldn’t fix Wendy Madigan, and I was done trying.
She’d be out of my life for good now.
“You got nothing to say to that? Not going to call me a crazy-assed bitch like you usually do?”
“Not this time,” I said quietly. “This time, I’m done with all that. You’re toxic, Wendy, and we’re toxic together. It’s over.”
“Fuck you. I’ll decide when it’s over.”
“Get dressed,” I said again.
She stalked toward me, pulled my head to hers, and kissed me. Hard.
I kept my lips sealed shut and pushed her away. “It’s over. Over and done, and I don’t want to see you again. Ever.”
She stepped into her panties. “We’ll see about that.”
Yeah, she wouldn’t go quietly. I’d always known the final breakup with Wendy would be long and painful.
But I was ready now. Finally.
Ready to say goodbye forever.
And hello to a new life with someone else.
A normal life with a normal woman.
Man, wouldn’t that be something?
“Fuck you, Brad. You think you can erase me from your life? It’ll never happen. We’re connected, Brad. We’re connected, and we always will be.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t love you, Wendy.”
“You just wait. You won’t be able to exist without me. You’ll return to me again and again just like you always have.” She finished dressing and grabbed my chin, drawing me down to meet her fiery blue gaze. “You’ll never be rid of me, Bradford Steel. Never.”
She walked out of my bedroom.
I stayed for about five minutes until I heard the front door slam.
Murph and Patty must have left. Who could blame them? Or they went to Murph’s room, though Patty Watson, Iowa pig farm girl, hardly seemed the type to put out on the first date, especially after Murph had been kind of douchy at dinner.
Then again, I could be wrong.
Distinct moaning wafted from Murph’s bedroom. I smiled. At least he was getting some.
My erection had subsided during the battle with Wendy. I could get it back, but did I want to?
I scanned my watch. After midnight. Would Daphne Wade still be up? The partying never stopped during orientation week, so she might be.
It was worth a try.
Chapter Nine
Daphne
A judge was pounding his gavel inside my head.
“You need a shower, love?” Ennis asked.
“Yeah. But first I need to brush my teeth.” I stood, still pretty wobbly.
“I’ll get your stuff,” he said. “Just tell me where it is in your room.”
Had I even unpacked my toothbrush? I couldn’t remember. “I have no idea.”
“All right. Stay here. I’ll get some toothpaste and gargle. That’ll freshen you up.”
“My clothes…”
“You got a robe?”
“Yeah, yeah. I know I hung that in the closet. It’s burgundy terry cloth.”
“I’ll get it for you. Get in the shower, and I’ll bring a towel from my room and get your robe.”
“But the toothpaste…”
“Get your shower. Then we’ll clean your teeth.”
“Thank you, Ennis. Thanks for taking care of me.”
He nodded and left the bathroom. I stumbled to a shower stall and peeled off my clothes. My first instinct was to burn them, but I’d been wearing them when I met Brad Steel. For some reason, that was significant to me. I didn’t have shampoo, but someone had left a well-used bar of soap in the stall, so I could at least get clean. I brought my blouse into the shower with me to rinse off the puke before the pink from the drink could stain it.
My hair was falling out of its braid, and I tugged the rest out of the band and unwound it, letting the water run over it and plaster it to my shoulders and back. I grabbed the soap, lathered my whole body, and rinsed, feeling not exactly clean but better.
I washed my blouse as best I could, though a light-pink tinge still remained. I sighed. This was one of my favorite blouses, and I couldn’t ask my parents for money for another. They were struggling as it was, with all my doctor’s bills and now additional expenses associated with my college.
