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“How could you fall in love with Caden?” he returns. “He’s not right for you.”
I stay silent. He really shut me up there.
As soon as he leaves, I go to look at myself in the mirror above the sink. My hands grab the edge of the sink, and I stare into my own eyes.
“You got this,” I tell myself. “This is it.”
“I really think you got it,” a voice comes from behind me.
I gasp as I turn around. Ethan is standing right behind me. I attempt backing up further, but I’m already against the sink.
“Xi!” I call out, except Ethan is on me the next second, his hand slamming against my mouth. I grab his arm, yet I don’t defend myself. I can’t risk it, not minutes away from the fight of my life.
“I’m not here to hurt you. I swear. Just calm down and hear me out.”
My heart is hammering against my chest, but I nod slightly.
“I’m going to take my hand off. Donotscream.”
I nod again, and he lets me go.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” he says calmly. “I had to talk to you.”
“What do you want?”
He steps away, giving me space so I’m no longer stuck against the sink.
“I can’t watch my best friend be so miserable another minute, Billie. He would kill me if he knew I’m telling you this, but—"
“Why are you defending him now?” I snort. “You hate me. You never wanted us to be together in the first place.”
“He fucking loves you, that’s why. Everyone has only ever met unhinged Caden when he had no reason to be. The scary guy who destroys everything in his way just because he feels like it. Suddenly he has a reason to live. And it’s all because of you.”
“He killed four people since he met me, Ethan. He hasn’t changed.”
“But now he’s deranged because everything he does is for you. You’ve given reason to his insanity. Do you even understand what that means?”
"It doesn’t mean shit,” I whisper more to myself than him.
“It means you control him. It means you’ve got his heart in your clutches, and there isn’t shit he can do about it.”
“I’m done with this conversation. You can leave now.”
“I know where he was.”
An ice-cold grip gets hold of my heart, making it so heavy I can barely breathe.
“I don’t need to hear any lies,” I shake my head. “I don’t need any of this right now. A few months ago, I waskicked outof this competition. Now I get to fight again. Fuck, do you even understand what kind of chance the universe has given me?”
“The universe,” he snorts. “How naïve are you? It was all Caden. He’ll deny it if you ask him, but I know the truth.”
I still for a moment, not truly understanding. The interest he’s sparking in me is too intense to ignore. “Fine. Where?” I snap, pretending I don’t care.
“Did you know about his tutoring jobs in Stoneview?”
“Fucking hell,” I snort. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s where he was. Teaching some kids math while your bitch was carving me.” I push him away and go to my gym bag, pretending to look for something. “Thanks for helping him out. You can leave now.”
“Rich Stoneview women paid him for sex. That started before he met you. He was so desperate to get out of here that he did it.”
