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“Don’t play stupid, Blake! You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been sleeping with Parker this entire time!”
Gasps surrounded me. Nathaniel let out an exasperated sigh.
“I’m not sleeping with him. We’re friends!”
Calling Parker and me friends was wrong. It felt like it invalidated every feeling and every moment between us. But we also weren’t sleeping together, and I would be dammed if I would let Richard believe so.
“Don’t lie to me. Erik told me what he saw. This is why you wouldn’t commit to me!”
“Richard, you have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“So, this is your thing then? You go around, jumping from guy to guy until they’ve served their purpose to you. Is that why you wouldn’t move forward with me? Because I have no contract or promotion to award you?”
“Excuse me!? What the hell are you implying?”
“You were sleeping with Erik when and until you were promoted to your role here. Then, as soon as you got your promotion, you left him.”
“You know that’s not all that happened with us! Why are you doing this?!”
“Now, you’re sleeping with Parker. Tell me, superstar, did that earn us the contract too?!”
“Richard!” Nathaniel warned, wading through the pool toward us.
“Maybe you’re sleeping with Braeden since you guys are so buddy-buddy on all your projects!”
My mouth was ready to say something, anything, but my brain wasn’t cooperating. Anger clouded every thought I had. I stood there as Richard continued muttering accusations.
“For all I know, Nathaniel chooses you for his projects because you’re doing him too!”
“Richard, enough!” Nathaniel demanded. Gabby rolled her eyes.
Erik smugly looked at me and sipped his beer. If his goal was to burn down my life and credibility because of what happened between us, this was certainly a way to do it. I could recover from this; I had to. But it helped solidify that the boy I knew and loved in him was long gone.
Parker’s chest rhythmically rose and fell, and his new rubber band snapped at the pace of his breath. His jaw was strained, and the veins in his forearms were protruding. Amelia’s eyes were wide. Kate whispered something in her ear that she agreed with. They both moved slowly towards Parker.
“This is so ridiculous!” Richard screamed at the sky. “You are just such a –”
“What the hell has gotten into you?!” I snapped, matching his anger to shut him up. “This is not the time nor the place to vent your frustrations with me about our private, personal relationship. You don’t seem to understand that basic concept, regardless of how many times I tell you. I am offended that you genuinely think I would reduce myself to using my body to succeed. I have never slept with anyone to advance my career, and I never will!”
My heartbeat was running wild. I begged my own body not to do this right now.
“It would make sense, though, wouldn’t it?!” his voice was slow, enunciating everything. “Maybe that’s why superstar Blake has been able to rise so fast!”
“I've been able to rise fast because I work hard! I give my life to my job, and you have the audacity to question me like this? Who the hell do you think you are?!”
My hands were clammy and cold despite the sun beating down on me.
“Apparently, the only guy here who hasn’t had the pleasure of screwing you!” he spat. “Maybe you should screw Connor while you’re at it; really lock in that promotion.”
“Fuck you, Richard!”
“Oh, no, no, I’m not worthy of you! I can’t believe I wasted so much time on such a whore!”
A collective gasp emerged from everyone. The air around us lacked for a second. I couldn’t breathe.
He had never laid a hand on me, but his words punched a hole through me. I wanted to slap him across the face and make him eat every word he said, but I couldn’t move. And doing so would have been another bad idea in a string of bad ideas that led me to this moment.
“What the hell, Richard?!” Parker snapped and got in Richard’s face. He wasn’t much taller than him, if at all, but his eyes were dark and menacing, and his anger loomed over him. He shoved him back a few steps. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
