ALEC
Once Maddie fell asleep on my chest, I gently placed her on the other side of the bed and shuffled to the door. I had been parched all night since we had left Imani’s house, but I hadn’t wanted to say anything to Maddie. She loved caring for me, and I loved that about her. And I had just wanted to hold her all night until she fell asleep because we both needed it.
So, I walked down the hallway, then down the steps to the kitchen. My gaze lingered on the huge living room, where Oliver’s wild parties had taken place many times over. Where I had gotten so drunk that I could barely see.
I wished I could say that I’d ever had fun at his parties.
But I hadn’t. Not once.
The only reason that I had come to them—most times—was to see Maddie, to make Maddie jealous enough that she’d make the first move, or to get myself drunk enough to flirt with her, like I had a few weeks ago.
Who knew that night would be so shitty?
After turning on the light in the kitchen, I grabbed a glass from the cupboard.
“You’re up late,” someone said from behind me.
I jumped back slightly and turned around to see Oliver sitting on the island, drinking from a glass that definitely didn’t have water in it. I could smell the booze halfway across the room. I turned back toward the fridge and poured myself some water.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you don’t want to close your eyes because you fear having another nightmare.”
“I’m sorry, dude,” Oliver said. “I should’ve believed you.”
I set down my glass, placed my hands on the counter, and stared out the window over the sink. “It’s a bit too late for that, Oliver. I needed you to fucking believe me weeks ago. And all you did was”—I sucked in a shaky breath—“make everything worse.”
Oliver didn’t say anything.
“You made everything worse,” I repeated, voice cracking at the end. “I fucking needed you.” Rage rushed through me, and I whipped around and grabbed him by the collar, balling his shirt in my fist. I pulled him off the counter and slammed him against the wall. “I needed you, and you made fun of me with the rest of the school.”
“I know,” he said quietly.
But I wasn’t nearly finished. I wanted him to hurt as badly as I had. He had done nothing but betray me, almost get me thrown off the hockey team, which would’ve made me lose all my chances at getting out of this shithole.
“I would’ve fucking believed you!” I sneered, tears burning my eyes. “I would’ve brought you to the hospital, helped find the girl who did it to you, been there if you needed someone to cry to, but I had to do all those things alone.”
Tears glistened in his eyes, and he dropped his gaze to our feet.
I slammed him against the wall harder, my grip slipping from his shirt. “Do you know how hard it was to suffer in silence for weeks, feeling like nothing but a piece of shit because I woke up to you filming me, drugged out, after she raped me?!”
“No, I … I don’t know how hard that must’ve been.”
While I wanted to slam him up against the wall once more, my fists slipped from his shirt. I dropped to a crouched position in front of him, wrapping my arms around myself and shaking my head. I didn’t have the energy anymore.
“And even after you didn’t believe me,” I whispered, pain shooting through my chest, “I went and found you to protect you from Spencer. I didn’t need to do that. I could’ve let you rot there with him until he killed you. But I did because you’re fucking important to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
But sorry didn’t make up for everything that I had sacrificed for and everything that had happened because of him. I drew my tongue across the tips of my teeth, anger rushing through me.
“Did you really sleep with my mom?” I asked.
“Alec, please, do—”
I snapped my gaze to him, seething. “Did you sleep with my fucking mom?”
Oliver ran a hand through his hair and turned his back toward me. “Once. That’s all.”
“Man, fuck you, dude.”
“I was pissed that you liked my sister,” he reasoned. “I’ve always seen the way you look at her.”
“It’s my mom!” I exclaimed. “My fucking mom, who is married to my father, who also can’t keep his dick in his pants anymore either. God-fucking-damn it. I wouldn’t give a fuck if you’d slept with a sibling—if I had one—but my mom?!”
“It just sorta happened.”
“How the fuck does something like that just sorta happen?”
Oliver placed his forefinger and thumb on opposite sides of his forehead and furrowed his brow. “One night after practice, I went to grab a bite to eat at Escape down by the beach. Your mom was there, drinking alone … and one thing led to another.”
I arched a brow. One night after practice?
“When?” I asked.
“What?”
“When was this?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“So, before you found out about me and your sister.”
Another low sigh left his mouth. “Alec …”
“Stop fucking lying to me,” I growled, shoving him. “I give you a chance to be honest …”
And he continued to fuck up. Chance after chance after chance. Had he ever really been my friend? I’d always thought we’d get through everything together, but he had betrayed me multiple times when I needed him the most.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ve been a shitty friend.”
“Yeah.”
“I won’t let it happen again.”
“What, you fucking my mom?”
“Piper—or anyone else—doing that shit to you.”
I shook my head and walked out of the room. “Fuck you.”