3. Three
THREE
WRENLY
F ucking piece of shit.
He’d literally been getting his dick sucked at the party while I’d been in the other room, for fuck’s sake.
Grabbing my purse from the rack, I burst out the front door, gulping in the cool night air. The street was empty, and the only sound was the muffled bass of the house music and the distant hum of traffic. I started walking, my heels clicking against the pavement as I put as much distance between myself and that house as possible.
I could still hear them in my head—the muffled sounds of slurping and moaning seeping through the door. My fists clenched tightly at my sides as jealousy and rage boiled up inside me.
With each step, the anger inside me only grew. How could he have done this to me? After everything we’d been through? I’d thought what we’d had was special, but clearly, I was just another notch on his bedpost.
Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back furiously. I refused to cry over that cheating bastard. I had given him everything—my heart, my soul, my body—and this was how he repaid me?
I walked faster, my breaths coming in short, angry bursts. The night air felt suffocating, pressing down on me from all sides. I needed to get away. As I turned the corner, I nearly collided with a couple stumbling out of a bar, their arms wrapped around each other as they giggled and swayed. I sidestepped them, barely registering their presence as I continued my furious march down the street.
My mind raced with a torrent of emotions—betrayal, hurt, and a simmering rage that threatened to consume me. I couldn’t believe I had been so blind, so foolish to trust him. The signs had been there all along, but I had chosen to ignore them, too caught up in the fantasy of our perfect relationship to see the truth.
I thought back to all the late nights he had spent “training,” the mysterious texts he would quickly hide when I entered the room, and how his eyes would linger just a little too long on other women when we were out together. I had brushed it all off, convinced myself that I was just being paranoid. But now, the truth was staring me in the face, and I couldn’t look away.
As I walked, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through our old messages, searching for any hint of his infidelity. But there was nothing—just a string of sweet nothings and empty promises. I felt like a fool, like I had been playing a part in some tragic drama where everyone had known the ending but me.
I turned down a dark alley to take a shortcut and heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around, my heart pounding in my chest, only to see a stray cat dart out from behind a dumpster. I let out a shaky laugh, feeling foolish for being so jumpy. But the truth was, I felt vulnerable, exposed in a way I never had before.
I leaned against the cool brick wall, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.
Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my hand. I glanced down, expecting it to be Vera with some half-assed apology about abandoning me at the party. But it was him. My finger hovered over the screen, torn between the urge to hurl it against the wall and the morbid curiosity to see what bullshit excuse he had concocted.
Against my better judgment, I swiped to open the message.
Where are you? We need to talk.
I let out a harsh laugh. Talk? Now he wanted to talk? After I’d caught him with his pants down and his dick in some other girl’s mouth? Un-fucking-believable.
My fingers flew across the screen.
Fuck you. We’re done. Lose my number and never contact me again.
I hit send with a sense of grim satisfaction.
But even as I slid the phone back into my purse, I knew it wasn’t over. This betrayal had awakened something dark and vengeful inside me, a part of myself I hardly recognized. He thought he could toss me aside like yesterday’s trash and walk away unscathed. He had no idea what he’d unleashed.
When I walked out of the other side of the alley, my heels clicked with renewed purpose as a plan formed in my mind. If he thought he could break my heart and get away with it, he had another thing coming.
I hailed a cab and gave the driver an address across town. As the city lights streaked by outside the window, I pulled a compact mirror from my purse and touched up my makeup, painting my lips a deep, vengeful red.
The cab pulled up to a seedy-looking bar on the outskirts of town. I paid the driver and stepped out, the bass from the music in the bar pulsing through the soles of my feet. I strode inside, ignoring the leering stares of the men hovering around the pool tables.
I scanned the room until I spotted him—Jake, Connor’s “best friend.” He’d always had the hots for me . . . and every other possession that Connor claimed as his. He leaned against the bar with a beer in hand and a smug grin on his face. I strolled over, putting an extra sway in my hips.
“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” He smirked as I approached. “Surprised to see you slumming it in a dive like this.”
I leaned in close, trailing a finger down his chest. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he quickly recovered, his grin turning predatory. “Is that so? And what exactly brings you here tonight? ”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the back of the bar. “I think you know exactly why I’m here, Jake.”
His eyes gleamed with wicked delight as he allowed me to lead him into the dimly lit hallway. “I like the way you think, babe. Connor’s had this coming for a long time.” I shoved him into the wall and pushed my body flush against his. He gripped my hips, his breath hot against my neck. “I’m in. Whatever you need, I’m your man.”
I smiled, a cruel twist to my lips. “Good.”
We stumbled into the bar’s filthy bathroom, a tangle of groping hands and bruising kisses. I needed to lose myself in sensation, to drown out the pain with pleasure. I wanted to make Connor hurt. I wanted to destroy him like he’d destroyed me. Jake was more than happy to oblige, hiking up my skirt and shoving me against the graffiti-covered wall.
It was rough and primal. But tenderness was for fools who still believed in happily ever afters. I was done being a fool.
After, as I adjusted my clothes and reapplied my lipstick, Jake leaned against the sink and lit a cigarette. “So what’s the plan, Wrenly?”
“Plan?” I questioned. “No plan.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “No? Then what was that all about?” He gestured between us, the implication hanging heavily in the air.
I shrugged and feigned nonchalance, even as my insides churned with a toxic brew of emotions.
Jake let out a low chuckle, taking a long drag of his cigarette. “Come on, babe. I know you. You didn’t just fuck me in this shithole bathroom for the hell of it. You’ve got something brewing in that devious mind of yours.”
I met his gaze in the cracked, dirty mirror, my lips curling into a smirk. “Maybe I’m just full of surprises.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But I also know revenge when I see it. And you’ve got vengeance written all over that pretty face.”
I turned to look at him, plucking the cigarette from his fingers and taking a slow drag. The acrid smoke burned my lungs, but I welcomed the sting. It made me feel alive, electrified with purpose. “That was just me taking what I wanted for a change. Using instead of being used.”
“Not that I have any objections to that, but Connor might kill us when he finds out.”
“Connor may be a professional fighter, but he’s a little bitch when it matters.” I crushed the cigarette under my heel. “It’s simple. He thinks he’s untouchable—that he can fuck around and I’ll turn a blind eye. But he needs to know that two can play that game.”
Jake chuckled darkly. “So, what, you’re just going to fuck your way through his friends until he gets the message?”
I shot him a withering glare. “Don’t be crass. I have a bit more finesse than that.”
“You sure you want to go down this road?”
I met his gaze unflinchingly. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m game for whatever you’ve got planned. But let’s be smart about this. Connor may be a cheating scumbag, but he’s got a temper. And he’s got friends in low places.”
I waved off his concerns impatiently. “I can handle Connor. And as for his friends? I’m about to find out just how loyal they really are.” I planned to do so much more than that. I wanted to bring his whole world crashing down around him. I wanted him to feel the same gut-wrenching betrayal that I’d felt when I’d caught him with that skank’s lips wrapped around his dick.
Jake whistled low, pushed off the sink, and closed the distance between us, his hands coming to rest on my hips. “I’m down. But I gotta ask—what’s in it for me?”
I traced a finger along his jawline. My eyes locked with his. “What’s in it for you?” I leaned in close, my lips brushing against his ear. “The chance to finally one-up Connor. To show him that you’re not just his little sidekick.”
Jake’s grip on my hips tightened, his breathing growing ragged. “Fuck, Wrenly. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I smirked, stepping back and straightening my dress. “Oh, I’m just getting started.”