Combust (Electric Series #4)

by E. L. Todd

  “You chose her.” His voice turned cold, maniacal.

  “Volt…I don’t have any other choice.”

  “But you do have a choice,” he snapped. “You’re really going to throw us away because I dated your friend? How is that right? She’s not a real friend to make you choose.”

  “But she’s right. This will never work.”

  “So, you’re just going to move on with some other guy?” he hissed. “You’re going to spend forever with someone else? How does that make sense?”

  “It doesn’t make sense.” Tears sprang from my eyes immediately, pouring out and trailing down my cheeks. I couldn’t keep them back because I was in too much pain. When I knew this conversation was coming, I prepared myself. I numbed myself. But now that it was happening, I couldn’t hold my feelings in check. They spilled out and cascaded down my body.

  “Taylor, this is wrong. It’s a betrayal of everything we have.”

  “I know…but I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Forget about her.”

  “I can’t, Volt. She’s my best friend. I can’t walk away from someone I’ve known my entire life.”

  He stepped back, running his hand through his hair so he wouldn’t punch something. “This is unbelievable.”

  “If it makes any difference, this is so hard for me. I hate this.”

  “No, it doesn’t make a fucking difference,” he snapped. “How can you choose her over me when she cheated on me? How is that fair? She betrayed me. She walked away from me. She tossed me aside like garbage. No, she doesn’t get to treat me like shit and take away the woman I love. It’s not gonna work like that.”

  I stared at him through my tears, listening to his rampage. “Sara is the one who cheated on you?”

  “Yes,” he snapped. “I told you that.”

  I guess I hadn’t put the pieces together.

  “So how is that fair?” He threw his arms down. “She killed me once and now she’s doing it again. That woman is a fucking terror.”

  The fact that she cheated on him did make a difference. Volt left for a reason. If she hadn’t screwed things up, they might have ended up together. But she threw him away, and that was her fault. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “No.”

  “No, what?”

  “Don’t tell her why I really left. I never want her to get closure. I want her to always wonder what happened between us. If you tell her, then my revenge is ruined.”

  “But what’s more important?” I asked. “Revenge or making us work?”

  He stared at me in silence before he released a deep sigh.

  “Volt?”

  “Fine.” He gave in. “Confront her.”

  “I will.” I stared at him and felt the distance between us. We weren’t officially over, but it felt that way. Even if she owned up to what she did, what difference would it make? But I had to try anyway. “I’ll go talk to her now.”

  “Okay.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the table. He turned his head away from me, not wanting to look at me as I left.

  Maybe this would just make things harder in the end, but I walked up to him and planted a kiss on his lips. I felt his soft mouth move against mine slightly. He didn’t want to kiss me back out of stubbornness, but he couldn’t stop himself. He breathed into me, all his longing and desperation evident.

  I pulled away before it turned into something more. I stopped it before he threw me on the table and took me right then and there. If that happened, I would be lost all over again.

  ***

  “What did you want to talk about?” Sara opened the door for me then fell onto the couch. She had a glass of wine with a half empty bottle on the coffee table.

  I sat on the other couch, unsure how to bring up this awkward subject.

  “Did you break up with him yet?”

  It was the second time she asked me, eager for me to get it done. Clearly, she didn’t understand just how difficult it was. “There’s something I want to talk about. It’s about Volt.”

  She grabbed her glass of wine and rolled her eyes. “Girl, I know this is hard for you. But he and I are never going to make this work. It’s that simple.”

  “I get that, Sara. But Volt told me something that changes the situation.”

  “What?” She set her glass down, intrigued.

  “He said you cheated on him.” I watched her expression, waiting to see her embarrassment and shame.

  “What?” she shrieked. “I did no such thing.”

  “But he said—”

  “Taylor, he’s just saying what he needs to say to get you to stick around. I never, ever cheated on him. Why would I when I was in love with him? I swear to everything that’s good on this earth that I never betrayed him. I even swear on our friendship.”

  Her words echoed around in my mind, and she said it with such emotion I believed her. She even swore on our friendship. Maybe what Volt saw was a mistake. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding.

  “Why would I cheat on a great guy? You saw how miserable I was when he left me? A year later, I was still miserable.”

  “Yeah…you’re right.”

  “I know you’re trying to find a loophole in this, but there isn’t one. I’m sorry.”

  I’m sorry too.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Volt

  When Taylor came back to my apartment, I hoped she carried good news. The fact that Sara cheated on me made all the difference in the world. She couldn’t have it both ways. She couldn’t treat me like shit then stop me from being happy two years later. “What happened?”

  Instead of being happy, she seemed just as depressed. “She denied it.”

  “What?” My temples immediately pulsed in ferocity. My muscles contracted like I was about to enter a cage match. My refrigerator was about to be pushed to the ground and smashed into pieces.

  “She swore on our friendship she never did. And I believe her. I mean, she wouldn’t lie to me about that.”

  “But she did lie,” I snapped. “I saw her.”

  “Maybe what you thought you saw wasn’t what happened.”

  I clenched my hands into fists so I wouldn’t snap. I didn’t want to start a rampage when Taylor was so close to me. She was bound to get in the way and get hurt. I tried to control my body from striking, but it took all my strength not to. “I know what the fuck I saw.”

  “Volt—”

  “No, you listen to me. I’m not an idiot. I know what a cheating slut looks like. How dare you take her side over mine.”

  “I’m not taking her side. I just think you should have confronted her all those years ago. Maybe there was a simple explanation. But since you never said anything, you’ll never know.”

  “Well, I’ll just go back in time and do that then.”

  She didn’t have the patience for my sarcasm right now. “I don’t know what happened two years ago, but Sara wouldn’t lie to me.”

  “Why are you so sure about that?”

  “Because she wouldn’t. We never lie to each other.”

  “Did you ever think that maybe she’s lying just to get you to break up with me?”

  “What does she get out of that?”

  “Payback.”

  “What?” She wasn’t following.

  “She’s probably pissed that I left her and now I’m rich, even more sexy, and I treat you like a queen. She’s jealous, Taylor. Plain and simple.” It made perfect sense. She never understood why I left, and now that I’m giving someone else everything she ever wanted, she was pissed.

  “But…she’s not vindictive like that.”

  “Snap out of it.” I snapped my fingers in front of her face. “I know you see the good in people, but pay attention to the bad too. This woman cheated on me so she has no problem lying to you. Why won’t you believe me?”

  “I never said I don’t believe you. It’s just hard for me to have an opinion about this when I wasn’t there. She looked me in the eye and
said she didn’t cheat on you. What am I supposed to do? Call her a liar.”

  “Yes,” he snapped. “That’s exactly what you should do.”

  She took a step back, needing a break from this fight. “Volt, nothing has changed. It’s still so messed up.”

  My anger died immediately, but disgust replaced it. “You can’t be serious.”

  “It’ll still never work.”

  “You’re telling me that you’re choosing someone who lies to you over me?” This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real. Sara broke my heart two years ago. I spent my life sleeping with anything that moved just to get over what happened. Then Taylor walked into my life and fixed me. Now Sara was taking that away too? This woman was the fucking plague. She killed everything good in this world and turned it to ash.

  I fucking hated her.

  “She didn’t lie to me, Volt.”

  “Well, I didn’t lie either.”

  “I’m not saying you did,” she whispered. “But maybe you didn’t see what you thought you saw.”

  “It’s pretty hard to see your girlfriend making out with some guy and then realize you were wrong—she was just giving him a high-five.” How stupid did Taylor think I was?

  “I’m sorry.” She headed to the door, walking away from me.

  “This is it? This is how this ends?” I couldn’t believe it. We were perfect just a few weeks ago. She was moving in with me. I was going to fucking marry her. And now she was walking out.

  “Please don’t make this harder…”

  It was impossible to make this harder. It was already deadly. My soul had crumbled into shards and nothing else in my body worked properly. I had no hope for anything. All I had was the bottle.

  She didn’t look at me as she walked out, unable to give me a real goodbye. She shut the door with her back to me. The door clicked when it was shut. Her feet sounded a moment later as she walked down the hallway.

  Instead of going after her, I just stood there. I listened to her walk out of my life, taking every joy with her. My life had been ruined and I was doomed forever. I would never find happiness because I wasn’t meant to.

  I would always be alone.

  ***

  After an endless night of drinking, I knew I couldn’t give up. My life would be a bitter and sad story unless I did something to fix this. I would do whatever it took. I was a good man, and I deserved the woman I loved.

  No one was taking her away from me.

  I wasn’t sure if Sara still lived in the same apartment, but I had to give it a try. If not, I’d have to do some digging until I figured out exactly where she went. But fortunately, I found the right place.

  Sara opened the door to my cold expression. She flinched slightly when she saw me, afraid of me.

  I hated looking at her. I hated those stupid green eyes and that blonde hair. I hated the fact I asked her out to begin with. I should have just kept going and found a nice girl somewhere else. Instead, I slept with the devil. “Can I have a moment of your time?” My jaw was clenched tightly, and I spoke like a monster. It even scared me a little bit.

  “Uh…”

  I barged in without being invited and sat on her couch. Her apartment was exactly as I remembered it. We had sex on that couch a few times. And on the floor. And on the coffee table.

  Repulsive.

  Sara slowly followed me into the living room and sat on the other couch. She stared at me in surprise, unable to believe I was really there—in her living room. She kept her legs pressed tightly together and her hands in her lap. “What can I help you with?”

  I stared at her TV because I didn’t want to look at her. I hated her face. It wasn’t the past that bothered me. It wasn’t the fact that she cheated on me. I got over that. It was the fact that she was ruining the greatest thing that ever happened to me. “I saw you with Leo at Tito’s. You were making out with him against the bar. I watched you for two minutes before I walked out.”

  She held my gaze, and slowly her face paled and became translucent. It was the same color as snow and just as icy. Her green eyes dimmed when she’d been cornered, and as much as she tried to hide her fear, she couldn’t.

  “I didn’t confront you because I was so hurt. I just left the jewelry store because I bought you a fucking engagement ring, and then I see you making out with your ex. I was in so much shock I didn’t know what to do. So I left.”

  Her breathing picked up. Her chest rose and fell with heavy pants. A million thoughts swirled in her eyes. She couldn’t hide the panic exploding through her. She was deteriorating by the second.

  “I never told you because I wanted you to suffer. I wanted you to wonder why I left. I wanted you to be paranoid, to worry if I figured out what you were doing when you claimed to be at work. I wanted my absence to haunt you. And I think I succeeded.”

  She finally looked away, unable to hold my gaze any longer.

  “So stop lying to Taylor, and tell her the truth.”

  There was no reaction. She purposely looked away.

  “Tell her.”

  “I’m not telling her anything…”

  My skin prickled with unease. The threat was in the air. “Excuse me?”

  “I already told her I didn’t cheat on you.” Her voice was weak despite her defiance. She reminded me of a child, scared of discipline.

  “Then retract your statement.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Why the fuck not?”

  “Because…I can’t handle the two of you being together. It will jeopardize my friendship with Taylor, and I don’t want to see your face all the time.”

  “Too damn bad. Maybe you shouldn’t have cheated on me.”

  She turned back to me, the fire in her eyes. “How do you think I’ve felt for the past two years? I kept going over our relationship in my head, trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. I wondered if it was something I did or said. I wondered if I pushed you away somewhere. It was torture.”

  “Good.” I didn’t feel bad—at all.

  “What you did to me was way worse than what I did to you.”

  “Oh, really?” I snapped. “Because what you did to me cost me ten thousand dollars.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “Your ring. I couldn’t take it back so I gave it to a bum. And you wasted a year of my life. I was so fucked up after what you did to me that I got lost. I lived my life by the bottle and by the women who slept in my bed. And then Taylor came in and changed my life completely. She fixed me. You don’t get to break my heart once and then do it again by taking her away from me.”

  She held her silence.

  “I’m a nice guy, so I’m going to give you an offer. If you really don’t want her to know you lied, tell her you’re okay with the two of us being together, that you want your best friend to be happy. You know, like all friends should be. I won’t tell her what we talked about, and we can forget the whole thing.”

  She looked away again. “No.”

  “No?” I hissed.

  “You ruined me for two years. I’m not helping you.”

  This bitch had a lot of nerve.

  “You told Leo, didn’t you?” she whispered. “Because he left me the same day.”

  I was surprised she had pieced the puzzle together. “Yep. I told him.” I went to him the day after I caught them together. Instead of punching him in the face like I should have, I informed him Sara was two-timing both of us. He didn’t know I existed, and he was just as pissed off for being played. We agreed not to tell her what we knew. We just dumped her. “And I don’t feel bad about it. Maybe you should open your legs for one guy at a time.”

  She didn’t react to the insult even though I knew she was pissed. “I’m not telling her anything. Payback is a bitch, ain’t it?”

  “You’re psycho, you know that?” How did I not realize how much of a freak she was? How did I fall in love with this insane person? “You were the one who started everything by cheati
ng on me. I had every right to do what I did.”

  “No. You were spiteful.”

  “And what are you doing now?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “This is the bottom line. You’re hurting Taylor, the innocent person in all of this. She loves me and wants to be with me. How can you stand in the way of that? How can you hurt someone you claim to love?”

  “I feel bad for hurting her. But she shouldn’t be dating you at all. It’s still a conflict of interest.”

  “But this is entirely your fault. You were the one who snuck around.”

  “It shouldn’t matter,” she whispered. “I’m not letting you get what you want, not after what you did to me.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Her need for revenge was so twisted it was insane. One day, she would be locked up for murder, I was sure of it. The fact that Taylor trusted her so much was even more depressing. “Sara, I’m proposing to Taylor. I already have a ring. As soon as she’s finished moving in, I’m getting down on one knee. And I know she’ll say yes.”

  Her face contorted into a look of anger.

  “Don’t take away the happiest day of your best friend’s life. It’s not right.”

  She refused to look at me.

  “Seriously?” I asked in shock. “You’re still going to lie to her? What happens when I tell her what we talked about?”

  “I’ll deny it. And she’ll believe me.”

  Wow. “You’re sick, you know that?”

  “Maybe,” she whispered. “But it looks like you’re single.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Taylor

  It was late in the evening when a knock sounded on my door.

  The only person who would visit me right now was Volt. I finally stopped crying an hour ago, and the puffiness in my eyes hadn’t quite died down. I fixed my face as much as possible before I opened the door.

  He walked inside, angry. His shoulders were tense like he was prepared for a battle. His eyes were darker than they’d ever been before.

  “Everything okay?”

  “I talked to Sara.”

  The last thing I expected him to do was go to her. I wasn’t even sure what a conversation between them would be like. Until that point, I’d never seen them utter a word to each other.