Fold

"We started with a simple hello, but ended with a complicated goodbye." —Unknown

I dig into my pocket for my cell and curse when I come up empty. It's most likely with the police, which means I won't be seeing it until they determine I can.

I eye the hospital phone in the room and frown. Buster doesn't pick up unknown numbers.

My body tenses and the walls around me start closing in.

I need to get out of here. Now.

But I can't, not only because my car is still at the school, but they won't discharge me until I speak to someone.

Screw that.

I'm not talking to some shrink in exchange for my freedom. I'm over eighteen. These people can go kick rocks.

The only reason I came here in the first place was to see what happened to Landon.

And her.

I run my tongue along the small cut on my bottom lip, tasting the hint of copper.

Fuck her. If Kit wants to get tangled up in Becca's web of deceit all over again, I'm not going to stand in her way.

Don't even know why I bothered to in the first place.

She was nothing more than an itch to scratch. An escape. A girl I thought about non-stop because I didn't want to settle down with the girl who trapped me.

Bullshit.

I rub the knot forming in my neck and blow out a breath.

Bullshit or not, it doesn't matter. Kit's not only obsessed with Becca, she bats for the other team. No amount of persistence on my part will change that.

Besides, what could I offer her anyway?

Her last statement might have pissed me off, but only because it's the truth.

I know exactly what kind of person I am. Hell, my list of habitual sins is well over a mile long.

Kit was right to walk away from me. Too bad she can't do the same when it comes to Becca.

I pick up the phone so I can call a cab and get out of here, but the sound of footsteps on the other side of the curtain has me pausing.

For a moment I think it's Kit, and my fucked-up heart threatens to beat out of my chest.

It slams to a stop altogether, though when I hear the nurse say, “The waiting room is filling up fast. You're much better off waiting in here for your girlfriend.”

“Thank you,” the angel of manipulation herself responds, and the infuriation that courses through me is enough to make my head ring.

“Sure thing, honey. Now, if you don't mind me asking, how far along are you? You look like you just walked off the cover of a glamour magazine. What's your secret?”

“I'm twenty—”

“Twenty-six weeks and five days.”

I yank open the curtain. “Although I guess it really depends on what day she screwed the guy she cheated on me with, now doesn't it?”

Just like that, the organ in my chest burns with rage for the bitch sitting across the room from me...and longing for the baby that isn't mine.

Becca's jaw nearly hits the floor before she recovers. “Are you lost, Preston?” She makes a show of looking around. “The casino is a few miles back.”

The nurse looks between us. “I'm going to see if I can make a room switch.”

I give Becca a shit-eating grin. I've got her right where I want her and she's not going anywhere.

“That won't be necessary. We're both adults, surely, we can handle being in the same room together. Right, baby face?”

I all but spit the word at her.

Becca smiles at the nurse. “We'll be fine.”

I don't catch what the nurse mutters to herself as she scurries out, because Becca gets out of her chair and walks over to me.

“What are you doing here?” She crinkles her nose. “I knew you had a thing for her, but I didn't think you progressed to full-on stalker.”

She clearly has no clue I was at Woodside today, or that I was trapped in an elevator with Kit.

I think I'll hold onto those cards.

“I'm not stalking her.” I cross my arms. “And I'd ask why you're here, but fortunately for me, I don't have to. I already know what a co

She runs a finger up my bicep. “Sounds like someone's butthurt about their fiancée leaving them for a girl.” She looks down. “I'd say it was about the paternity results, but we both know you never gave a damn about the baby.”

Anger pumps through my veins and I clench my teeth so hard my jaw aches. “Eat shit, you vile cunt.”

She takes a step back. “Whoa, you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“My mother? No.” I thread my fingers through her hair, drawing her closer. “However, a sexy, gorgeous blonde.” When her eyes become hooded, I add, “With pink tips and a great ass...”

I smirk, inviting her to fill in the rest of that sentence on her own.

Becca glares daggers at me. “Cute, but I know for a fact Kit wouldn't go near you, let alone kiss you. Not only are you not her type, she's too infatuated with me.”

I lean forward. “Wa

I'm level expert at Becca's games. Too bad she isn't when it comes to mine.

Her hand wraps around my nape. “Sure. Because I spent last night in her bed.”

Call.

I remove her hand. “I know.” Check. “She told me.”

She looks so confused, it almost hurts not to laugh.

“When?”

I start to answer but pause. I've had a sneaky suspicion burrowing in my gut since I walked out of that elevator.

Raise. “Not that it's any of your business, but I left her a voicemail last night and she called me back this morning.”

Her eyes light up and I know without a shadow of a doubt she knows exactly what I'm referring to. “That's not possible.”

It's amusing how she's trying to call my bluff. Little does she know the hand I'm holding is a full house.

And I'm about to drop it on the wicked witch standing in front of me.

I stare her down. “I know it's not. Because you deleted my voicemail from her phone while you were there.”

She blanches and tries to turn away, but I snatch her arm. “Admit it.”

“Fine, but it was only because you left me no choice,” she snaps. “So I hope you enjoy reaping what you sowed, because this is only the begi

Rage billows up my spine and I have to remind myself I'll never hit a woman, because if Becca was a dude, she'd be lying face down with no teeth left in her mouth.

Maybe then she'd stop spewing all her lies and bullshit.

She attempts to wrench out of my grasp, but I compress my hold. “Why do you like to hurt people, huh?”

It's not a rhetorical question, I'm genuinely curious why she's so miserable.

Her face twists and she raises her chin in defiance. “Why do you?” She jabs a finger in my chest. “You want to point fingers at me? Well, look in the fucking mirror, because you and I are cut from the same cloth.”

I stay silent, not only because I refuse to give her statement credence by acknowledging it—but I know if I give Becca enough rope, she'll end up hanging herself.

Preferably when Kit walks in.

“You can deny it all you want, but you know it's true,” Becca continues. “Just like you know deep down, underneath all those corrupt layers of yours—she'll never want you. No matter how many times you chase after her in a parking lot, or show up at her school to give her back her jewelry...none of it makes a difference. You'll never be her knight in shining armor. As far as she's concerned, you're nothing but the villain.” She wedges her leg between both of mine, grazing my balls with her knee. “Not only because the mere thought of your dick repulses her, but because she's still in love with me.”