I opened up the newest message. It was from the number Ivy had been calling me from. My heart started beating fast, and I thought I was going to pass out. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that whatever it said was going to devastate me.
I opened up the message and saw a picture. Stosh was between my legs, on his bed. The picture looked like it was taken from the window. I put my hand over my mouth, shocked she had been watching us.
I hope you enjoyed yourself. Did she taste as good as me? Remember what we agreed upon. See you tomorrow. Xoxo
I dropped the phone on the table, causing a loud bang.
Without even thinking about what I was doing, I ran out of the house in my underwear. To say I was hysterical would have been an understatement. I was distraught, not even realizing I’d made it halfway down the long driveway.
I heard Stoshua calling my name, but I refused to turn around. He’d shattered my heart worse than the first time. Tripping wasn’t in the plan, but I fell to the ground hard. Pain ripped through my chin and the palms of my hands were stinging, as if the skin had been scraped off. I felt strong arms pulling me up. “You’re bleeding!”
“Screw you.” I shoved myself off of him. “I saw the message.”
“Let me explain.” He tried to grab me again. I pulled away and started running, but I wasn’t as fast as he was. He forced me to stop. “I know you’re mad. Just, please, let me at least take you where you want to go. Please, Willow.”
Knowing I wasn’t dressed, and I had no vehicle of my own, I agreed to let him drive me to my parents. From there, they could take me to my car that was parked at the airport, in the morning. All I wanted to do was get out of there.
After getting my things together, I met Stosh in the car. I refused to look at him and I was crying too hard to hear what he was blabbing about. I couldn’t believe he’d used me.
Thankfully, my parents only lived a couple blocks away, so I didn’t have to be with him for very long. He reached for my arm when I was climbing out. “Willow, wait! Please let me explain.”
I pulled away from him and slammed the door shut. “I have nothing to say to you. You took something beautiful and turned it to shit. You two deserve each other!”
I walked toward the house and never looked back at him.
By the time I’d made it around back, where my parents always hid the key, I heard him peeling away from the curb. I grabbed the key, but sank down in a chair by the pool. I didn’t care if I spent the night out back of my parent’s house. I just didn’t want to be near him.
How could he have done that to me?
Why did he say those things to me, when he didn’t mean them?
Why did he show me the diary, if he was just going to break my heart?
None of it made sense.
I continued crying, losing myself in an emotional breakdown. I never should have come home. I should have ignored her calls.
I should have stayed far away from her husband.
All they’d ever done was hurt me.
I heard laughing and someone approaching me. There was no reason to turn around because I knew exactly who it was. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”
I lunged toward her, shoving us both into my parent’s in ground pool.
“I hate you! You took everything from me, you stupid bitch!” I shoved her under the water, but she was just as strong as me, she took me with her.
We wrestled under the water until we both needed to take a breath. She came up in one direction and I came up at least five feet away.
She kept backing away from me until she reached the ladder. I watched her climb out of the pool. “You deserved it! I’ve waited forever to see the perfect princess fall. They’ll never forgive you now. You’ll be forever tainted in their eyes.”
I climbed out on the other side. “Who?”
“Mom and Dad. They’ve been comforting me since I found out you were having an affair with Stoshua. They’ve known about it for days.”
“That’s impossible. I never heard from them. Mom would have called.”
“I have your phone, remember? It’s too bad you ignored her calls. I think she really wanted to let you have it. Don’t worry, I saved the messages. I recall one saying how no daughter of hers could ever stoop so low.”
I was flabbergasted, enraged, heartbroken and alone. How was I supposed to give up everything? It was bad enough my sister had betrayed me, but now she’d told my parents a bold faced lie.
I’d only come back to town because she desperately needed my help. Stoshua had nothing to do with it. What happened between him and I wasn’t planned. Not on my part. “This is insane. They won’t believe you!”
She started laughing. “I assume you saw the photo? Where do you think I got it?” She laughed harder. “Dad hired a PI. He sent dad the text a couple hours ago. That was all the proof they needed, being that I was here with them the whole time, crying because of what the two of you had done to me.”
I ran after her, knocking her onto the ground. My hands were wet. The sting of me smacking her face must have hurt. I didn’t care. I kept hitting her, taking out all of my frustrations on her face.
She tried to cover herself. “Stop! You’re hurting me!”
“Screw you! Screw you for all those things you said about me. I never did shit to you! How could you ruin my life on purpose? How could you take him away from me?”
I felt someone pulling me off of Ivy. She wiped the blood away from her mouth and laughed again. “I’m glad you know the truth! Take your cunt ass out of here and never come back!”
I didn’t know who had me by the arms, but I tried to lunge at her again, failing completely. “I hate you! I wish you were never my sister!”
“I don’t care how you feel. I have the life you wanted. Every day, you’re going to want to be me. Take that and shove it up your nerdy little princess ass, Willow!”
At first, I thought it was my father who had a hold of me. I knew it couldn’t be my mother since she was smaller and not as strong. When I turned and saw Stosh, I said nothing. I didn’t know why he was there, but I didn’t care either.
He and my sister could have each other, for all I cared. They were both dead to me. “I did everything for you! I walked away so you could be happy. I covered for you our whole lives and this is how you repay me?” While my sobbing became uncontrolled. I wasn’t sure they could understand me.
“Cut this shit out, Ivy! This has gone too far.” Stosh was obviously defending me out of pity.
Her eyes got huge. “Now you’re taking up for your little conquest? Does she know how I lured her here so you could fuck her? Does she know it was all part of my plan to ruin her?”
“Shut up! I’ve had enough!” I could see the blood boiling inside of him.
It didn’t matter that he was attempting to take up for me. Nothing he could say would make me forgive him. He was playing a losing game.
“If you leave, you’ll be sorry. Remember what I told you, Stoshua. I meant every word.”
His grip loosened and finally he let go. “The keys are in my car. Take it wherever you need to go,” he whispered so she couldn’t hear.
I didn’t thank him for the gesture, instead I hauled ass out of my parents yard. I drove his car straight to the airport, where my vehicle was still parked. I didn’t care about my bag of clothes, or my cell phone. I just wanted to get the hell away from all of them.
Before I could drive home, I sat in my car and let out the pain. I cried harder than ever before, only stopping to catch my breath. They betrayed me. My sister had ruined my chance at happiness. Stosh had slept with me, filling my head with false hope. It was too much to handle.
I couldn’t even call my parents for support. They thought I was a home wrecker.
I had no one to talk to. I was all alone, just like Ivy wanted.
I pulled her phone out of my pocket and threw it against the ground, smashing it into a million pieces. I didn’t care about ge
tting in touch with any of them. If she needed her phone, she could buy a new one. My days of doing her favors were long gone. I no longer had a sister.
When I finally got home, I was exhausted. I landed in my bed and fell right to sleep. I was glad since I didn’t want to have to think about them. The next day, I remained in my room. It took me three more to call the phone company and report my cellphone lost. I received a replacement on the fourth day, but kept it turned off. I didn’t want to listen to the messages, or take any phone calls.
I finally started my job, but I wasn’t in any condition to do it. I cried all the time, even when the animal shelter commercials came on the television.
My friends couldn’t get me to talk. The less I said the less it hurt. I just wanted to move forward. Talking about it would only hold me back.
After another week passed, I was a force to be reckoned with. I focused on packing up my things and prepared to move into my new place while trying to maintain my composure at work. It was a big step for me and I needed to do it right.
It wasn’t until the night before my big day that someone got in contact with me; someone I wasn’t prepared to see. It wasn’t by phone or email. No, he’d driven all the way to my doorstep for a chance I would hear him out.
Chapter 11
Nobody puts Princess in the corner.
“If you were smart, you’d turn your ass around and leave.” I could smell him from the doorway and as much as I tried not to pay attention, he looked more handsome than ever.
“Well, I guess I’m not smart, because I’m staying until you hear me out!” He put his hands in his pockets and waited for me to reply. I looked him up and down, smiled, and then slammed the door in his face.
He didn’t knock again, so I went about what I was doing. All my roommates had already moved out, leaving me to be the one who had to go through and make sure everything was cleaned out, and they didn’t forget anything hidden in the corner of a closet somewhere. I was hurt and angry. I couldn’t fathom having a conversation with him, not after what he’d done. Why he thought it was okay to just show up on my doorstep was beyond me.
I focused on the task at hand and ignored the fact that he’d come all that way to talk to me. I guess he thought he had some kind of valuable information that would change my mind.
I cleaned and packed my ass off for the rest of the morning.
At about noon, I was hungry and dying of thirst. I found my keys and headed out to grab a bite at the corner deli. When I opened the door, a pizza delivery guy was standing at my door, about to knock “I think you have the wrong address.”
He looked down at his paper. “No, it’s the right place. Someone called and paid for a ham and pineapple pizza and a two liter of soda. Since it’s paid for, do you still want it?”
I grabbed the pizza box and the two liter while shaking my head. “Yeah, sorry I forgot I ordered it. My mind is just crazy lately.”
Feeling like an idiot, I waved to the delivery guy as he walked away. As soon as his car pulled away, I saw Stosh leaning against the driver’s side of his vehicle.
Did he really think he could earn his way into my house through my favorite pizza?
Okay, I have to be honest. For a split second I did consider slamming my door and eating the pizza, then throwing the empty box out on the street at his feet. It was just for a second though. Instead, I walked into my house and left the door open.
I’d sat the pizza down on the kitchen counter by the time I heard him approaching. “You have until this pizza is gone to explain yourself. When the box goes out into the trash, you’re going with it!” I was as serious as a heart attack. He had about thirty minutes to explain and then he could leave the same way he came in. We were not friends, and just being in the same room with him was making me uneasy.
He sat down on a stool next to me and we ate at the breakfast bar since I had no other furniture except in my bedroom.
We were halfway through our first piece before he started his attempt to explain. Just hearing his voice was enough to remind me how hot it was to have sex with him. “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate me?”
I sat my slice of pizza down and took a deep breath before I looked at him. “Twenty!”
His eyes got big, and he shook his head. “I should have told you the truth from the beginning. I just wanted to spend time with you before you found out. I know I kept things from you, but I swear I meant what I said. I love you. I always have and I always will.”
“You don’t know what love is. I’d never lie to you, Stosh. I’d never deceive you. I’d do anything to keep you safe. That’s what love is. You didn’t do any of that for me.”
His expression changed. “Are you admitting you do still love me?”
“How I feel is irrelevant. I’ll never forgive you!” I could feel the slow burn in my throat. Tears were coming, and I had to hold them back. He couldn’t see me in pain over him.
“What if I said everything I did was for a reason? What if I told you I have a plan to take down your sister?”
I poked him in the chest when I spoke. “You could have given my parents her diary. Instead, you let her destroy my relationship with them. I don’t deserve any of this! I’ve been a good person. I worked hard for my education while she fucked her life away. You could have ended it before any of this occurred.”
I was pissed he was trying to mend things with me. “You’re right. I thought about sitting them down and reading it, but your sister would somehow come out of it smelling like roses. She’s not as stupid as everyone thinks. She’s been one step ahead of the game this whole time. She still doesn’t know I even have the diary.”
“What the hell are you waiting for?”
“There’s something I wanted out of her plan, or else I never would have gone through with it. She didn’t exactly tell me when you were coming into town. I’d prepared myself to be hurt by your rejection. After I found the diary, I realized you had feelings for me the whole time. Then I got selfish.”
I slapped his pizza out of his hand. He put his head down. “What do you mean, you got selfish?”
He folded his hands and acted like I hadn’t violated his space. “It’s been four years. You could have moved on. When I realized you were there, in my house, I couldn’t help myself. Maybe Ivy knew I’d be that way about you. I don’t really care. From the moment I knew you were there with me, all I wanted to do was be with you. I even warned you there were things you didn’t know. I wanted to tell you. I would have, if you hadn’t run out. I never wanted things to happen the way they did.”
“Great, now I feel more used than before. Thanks for clearing that up!” I tossed my pizza back into the box and shut it.
Stosh put his hand over mine, catching me off guard. I pulled away. “Will, I know it seems that way, but I waited for so long to hear you say you loved me. Do you blame me for wanting to have a couple days of heaven? Didn’t you feel happy too?”
I waved my hands around like a mad person. “Of course I enjoyed it. I felt like I finally had a chance at being happy. I felt like I had my best friend back.”
Try as I might, I couldn’t stop the tears this time. He may as well have been ripping my heart out of my chest with his bare hands.
He ran his fingers through his hair and then covered his face. “You don’t know how much I want that.”
I could tell he was genuinely upset. It was hard for me because I could never stop loving him. Sure, I hated what he’d done to me, but my heart and my mind were not on the same page. “Does she know you’re here?”
He shook his head. “Hell no! Ever since that night, she’s been staying at your parents. I know she’s up to something, but I have no idea what it is.”
“I wish I could believe that.” I started to turn away, but he grabbed my arm and held it tight. “What the…”
“Listen to me.” He finally let go of his hold on me, letting me be the one to decide what I wanted to do next. “If there was
a way to make things right, would you give me another chance?”
His face was dead serious. I didn’t know whether to follow my mind or my heart. At the end of the day, I couldn’t see it happening. “It’s not possible.”
Stosh started pacing around the kitchen. “Dammit, it is possible. I’m going to do whatever it takes, because those two days with you were the best days of my life. I wasn’t lying about that.”
“I think you are going to say whatever you can think of to get in my good graces. Do you have any idea how I feel? Do you have a clue what you’ve both done to me?”
He looked down at the ground. “Yes. I know exactly what you’re going through. I wish I could take it back.”
“Why are you here, Stosh? What could you possibly have on my sister that would make everything you’ve done better?”
He approached me, getting close enough to touch me, except he didn’t. “I can’t tell you.”
“Just leave! Drive back home and forget about ever knowing me. I’m sick of this. I just want to live my life. I’m tired of the drama that comes with being a part of your lives.”
I walked over and grabbed the pizza box.
He saw what I was doing and took it out of my hands. “You don’t mean that!”
I grabbed the box again, ripping it away from his hands. “Yes, I do!”
He wouldn’t give up. He pushed the box away and tossed it on the floor. “I don’t believe you. If you love me half as much as I love you, then I know you’re lying.”
He was staring right at me, challenging what I’d said to him. I didn’t know how to respond. Even as furious as I was, he was right. I was still in love with him. In fact, I couldn’t see myself loving anyone else. “Why does it even matter to you, Stosh? We can’t be together and you know it.”
He reached over and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. “Ivy thinks she’s won. I’ve been on to her since this all began. That’s why I couldn’t tell you. I thought I could handle it without you getting hurt. I have a plan to destroy your sister, but I have to let this play out for it to work. I need more time. Things have to happen before I can step in. I just need you to trust me.”
Twinsequences Willow Page 8
