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"One more round."
The phone kept ringing for ten minutes before he stopped.
Grumbling,he grabbed it,his eyes darkening when he saw the name on screen.
I didn't need to guess to know who it was.
Lucas didn't want to answer,but some mischievous impulse made him.
He connected the call and handed me the phone.
Loud music blared from the other end.
"Sophie,Ethan's drunk.Can you come get him?"
Ethan used to pull this all the time.
He'd get"drunk,"have someone call me,and I'd drive hours to pick him up,sometimes in the middle of the night.
Only to find him all fine,laughing with his buddies.
He'd play it off,saying he missed me.
After a while,I realized it was all a twisted game of his.
This time was no different.
But I was too drained to care.
I barely had the strength left talking.
"Tell him to call Chloe.I'm busy."
"But..."
Lucas hung up,smirking."My cousin's not satisfied with just you,huh?Greedy bastard."
Why did I smell jealousy?
I soon found out.
Lucas pressed kisses all over me."Girl,you're the only one I want."
In the room,the mood was heavy.Ethan sat on the leather couch,his face dark.
The guy who'd called cleared his throat."Bro...she hung up."
"Call again."
"Phone’s off."
Crash.
A glass shattered in Ethan's grip.
Everyone froze.
"What'd she say?"
"She told you to get lost,and...there was someone with her."
At this hour,with someone else?The implication was clear.
They were no fools.
That night,Ethan scoured every hotel in Coastal City.
When I woke up, it was noon already.
Lucas was gone,leaving a cold bowl of cereals by the bed.
I was reaching for it when the doorbell rang.
Assuming it was housekeeping,I shuffled over.
But it was Ethan,he clearly didn’t sleep all nigh,voice hoarse.
"Where's the guy?"
Before I could answer,he shoved past me,storming in.
The room's mess screamed last night's intensity.
Ethan nearly stumbled.
He turned,eyes red."You really slept with someone else?"
I sighed."Didn't I tell you?"
"Who?Sophie,tell me who!"
"You've met him.Lucas Hayes."
At the name,Ethan calmed down all of a sudden,almost eerily.
He laughed."You're joking,right?This is all staged to make me jealous,isn't it?"
"Lucas isn't like us.Why would he be with you?"
"Sophie,enough games.This isn’t fun anymore."
Oh,he thought the mess was fake.
The condoms in the trashcan,the tissues on the floor,the marks on my neck—all staged to mess with him.
How had I missed how narcissistic he was?
Maybe love had blinded me.
I didn't bother explaining,stepping aside to let him leave.
Then Lucas walked in.
Still in last night's white shirt,now smudged with lipstick stains.
The two men locked eyes,silent.
"Lucas?"
Ethan's gaze dropped to the shopping bag in Lucas's hand.
It had the logo of a women's lingerie store on it.
I remembered—last night,my underwear tore in the heat of it.
That's why he had gone out early.
"You were together last night?"
Lucas didn't answer.He handed me the bag and nudged men the room.
"Whatever happens out here,stay inside..."
Before he finished,Ethan's fist swung at his face.
Ethan was rough by nature.
Once,when a thug harassed me,he left the guy half-crippled.
Lucas,with his lean frame,was no match.
I yanked Lucas behind me,glaring at Ethan."Why'd you hit him?"
Ethan sneered."You're protecting him?I don't need a reason to beat a guy who slept with my girlfriend!"
"We're done!"
We had made that clear.
He had his new girl.Why was he still after me?
Ethan froze,stunned by what I had said.
I was always docile with him,only ever bristled like an angry cat in private.
Now that cat was abandoned,taken in by a kind passerby.
And the original owner wanted it back.
No deal.
"Sophie,I..."
He reached for me,but Lucas stepped forward."My turn."
They grappled,smashing the hotel's glass teapot.
By the time police arrived,Ethan's face was bruised,and Lucas was whining beside me.
At the station,they ruled it a fight over love.
A few female officers gathered,gossiping.
