AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m just going to throw this out there, so take it for whatever it’s worth. Max is in love with one of them, using the other one, and both are about to get their hearts broken. If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do to help them. Nothing we can do to stop what’s already in motion. And honestly, at the end of the day, Max will end up alone, so I’m not entirely sure I’m all that interested in changing the outcome. That man deserves everything he gets. It’s about time he pays for his sins.”
For years I’ve bitten my tongue on the subject of Max. It’s always been clear the way Cleo feels about Max. We’ve all asked her, on more than one occasion, where her hatred stems from, and she’s refused to give us an answer.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you hate him so much? What happened that has you seething with anger every time you lay eyes on him, every time you hear his name?”
“That’s a long story,” she says, mimicking my tone. “Let’s just say he likes to play games but doesn’t like to lose. And one day, it sounds like soon, he’s going to lose it all.”
Before I can ask her to clarify, Cleo bids me farewell in a sing-song tone that has the hair on the back of my neck standing at attention and hangs up on me.
Calling a meeting was a bad idea. It’s going to make matters worse. Because Cleo’s right, there’s nothing we can do to stop what’s already happening.
I’ve put the wheels in motion though, so now I need to learn how to steer the vehicle in the right direction. And if I hope to keep Cleo from taking control of the car, I’m going to need backup.
ME: I need your help.
MYA: Figured you might after I saw you included Cleo. On my way over now. See you in ten.
ME: Thank you!
“Okay,ladies. I’ll keep this short and sweet,” I start as the four of us gather around the kitchen island. Mya made sure Gia was still upstairs so we could talk without her overhearing us. “Max is fake dating Gia.” I expect a few gasps, maybe a look of shock, but no one so much as flinches. “Okay, I guess that was obvious.”
“The fact he never even touched her last night was a dead giveaway,” Kendall says, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip from her wine glass.
“Gia did a nice job of trying to sell it, though,” Mya adds.
“Moving on. I’m pretty sure he’s using her to get to Kora. He’s trying to make her jealous.”
Kendall starts cracking up, almost tumbling out of her chair. If it weren’t for Cleo grabbing onto her arm, she would have gone down.
“My sister and Max loathe each other. They can’t even stand to be in the same room. He’s always shooting dirty looks in her direction. She refuses to go anywhere he’s going to be unless it’s a sanctioned event by the sorority. And—” Kendall cuts herself off when she realizes the truth. “Son of a bitch!”
“It took me a minute to see it too,” I say, attempting to make her feel better, but the look of shock on her face doesn’t fade. “Last night, Max punched a guy out. We knew it was over a girl. What we didn’t know is that it was over Kora. Or, at least, that’s what we’re assuming. Gia was with Max, so I know the guy wasn’t hitting on her. But Kora, she was flying solo last night. I didn’t see it happen, I was in Colt’s room, but he says—”
“You were in Colt’s room?” Cleo asks. “What were you doing at the Kappa house? Why was everyone at the Kappa house?”
Shit. I should have started with the party that she wasn’t invited to.
“There was a last-minute party. More of a concert. Fade Into Nothing played.” Sucking my lower lip into my mouth, I bite down on it as I wait for her to reply.
“Okay. So Max punched who?” She steers the conversation back to the main topic, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“A friend of his from back home. My guess is that he was hitting on Kora.”
“Do we have any actual evidence?” Mya asks. “Brady said Max punched Beau, but he wouldn’t say why. That man is so infuriating. I know he saw something.”
It’s Kendall who pipes up, her eyes wide, her voice almost robotic as she relays what she saw.
“Finn and Willow had just left. Declan was using the bathroom, and then we were going to head out. Kora was in the kitchen getting a cup of punch, so I went to say goodbye when a guy slid up next to her. She was smiling so big I didn’t want to interrupt. Declan and I left a few minutes later. She was still talking to him when I waved goodbye to her.”
“My guess would be Beau was talking to her, or maybe doing more than talking, when we came upstairs,” Mya says, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the countertop. “Gia and Max walked into the room ahead of me and Brady. I’d barely hit the tile when Brady moved me behind him. When I glanced around him, I saw Max’s fist slam into his face.”
The room falls silent as we all piece together the events of last night. It’s Cleo who speaks first.
“So here’s what I’ve got… Max punched some guy he supposedly likes for talking to Kora. More than likely because he has the hots for Kora and is too much of an idiot to admit it to her. And Gia is just a pawn in this entire game. Max is using her however he wants. To make Kora jealous. So he doesn’t feel alone.”
