Chapter Twelve
Elijah
I really hated that I knew where Tiffany lived. In my defense, I only knew because she bragged to anyone who would listen. Some aunt of hers had been loaded and passed away, gifting her the apartment in her will.
I gritted my teeth as I finally got to the front of her building.
Even the thought of being that close to her made me want to vomit all over my shoes.
But I knew it was the only way I could prove to Bonnie without a shadow of a doubt that nothing—and I mean nothing—was going on between Tiffany and me.
I made it into the first set of doors easily enough, but then I had to find her in the building’s directory and ring until she answered. I couldn’t stop myself from pressing the call button until she picked up.
“Christ. Hello?” Tiffany finally answered.
“Tiff, it’s Elijah.” I tried to keep the disdain from my voice, and it almost came out like a squeak. I rolled my eyes at myself.
“Elijah? What the fuck is going on? Here, let me buzz you up!” She sounded all too eager to get me into her apartment.
I gagged, but breathed a sigh of relief at being buzzed in, knowing that my plan was going according to plan so far.
I made my way to the elevator and punched the button that would lead me to her place.
403. Not willing to take any chances, I pushed the record feature on my phone. No way can I let her try to spin this.
Finally, I made it to her floor, trying to school my features and appear friendly.
I was going to insist she come back to my place—well, Ellie’s—where I would call her out on all her lies in front of Bonnie.
I started to knock on her door, and it swung open halfway through the first knock. I had to remind myself not to frown.
“Tiff.”
“Elijah! What is going on? Justin sent us a screenshot of what you said to him! How could you say that?” she asked.
I had anticipated her questions, and told her exactly what she wanted to hear.
“Listen, I had some time to cool down. I realized that you all were right. Bonnie leaving me was the best thing that could have happened. I figured I’d apologize to you first.” I did my best to bat my eyes at her, but I was pretty sure it just came out like I was blinking rapidly. Either way, she seemed to buy it.
“Oh, Elijah! I knew you would come to your senses.” She bit her lip as she looked at me in an obvious attempt at being sexy, and I did my best to make my grimace look like a smile. “Hey, let’s go to my place. I have something for you.”
“Oh! A present?” She looked at me with stars in her eyes.
“Yeah. It’s a surprise,” I informed her as she clapped her hands together.
“Let me grab my jacket!”
I pulled out my phone, making sure I still had the recording on, and messaged Ellie, even though I knew she was picking out my funeral plot—her parting words, not mine.
I needed to make sure I gave Tiffany absolutely no reason to doubt me, so I had run my idea past Ellie first. I told her I’d be there soon, to leave the door unlocked, and I was coming with proof I wasn’t a cheating asshole.
“Let’s go. The car is waiting.”
“My, my, aren’t you in a rush?”
Yes. Yes, I am.
I barely spoke to her as we made the fifteen-minute drive to Ellie’s apartment.
Tiffany just kept prattling on, not at all realizing that I hadn’t spoken a single word to her the last half of the ride.
I kept my eyes on the passing streets, just waiting for Ellie’s to come into view.
Once we pulled up, I all but sprinted out, not bothering to wait or open Tiffany’s door.
“Uh…this is where you live?” She looked around in obvious distaste. Not wanting to waste any more time, I turned my back on her and tried not to yell at her for walking so damn slow. I tapped my foot as I held the door open, hoping she would get the hint to go faster.
“Impatient, aren’t we?” She ran her finger across my chest, and I recoiled at her touch before I could stop myself.
I saw a flicker of hesitation as she continued to look around at where we were.
Hating myself, I grabbed her hand so she didn’t think about pulling a runner, and thankfully, I felt her relax and smile up at me.
I tugged her toward the stairs. Ellie only lived on the second floor, and I wasn’t waiting for an elevator that might be on the tenth floor. It would take maybe a minute—shorter, if I didn’t have the dead weight of Tiffany tugging on my hand. Yuck.
“Where’s the fire?” she huffed. I didn’t answer her. Soon—so soon—I could see Bonnie again. I all but dragged Tiff down the hall and shoved her into the apartment. That took forever.
“Jesus, Elijah, that was insane. What the hell was that?” She ran her hand down her jacket, trying to smooth out any imperfections and collect herself.
“Uh…what is this?” Bonnie’s voice rang out, and thank god I was back in her presence.
“This is me bringing the truth to you,” I explained, and I turned toward a very confused Tiffany.
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
“You’re going to explain to Bonnie about how you lied to her and implied things that weren’t true. How I haven’t touched you in years, how we slept together that one time, and I couldn’t even get hard at the end.”
Her face flamed red, and Ellie snorted so hard into her coffee cup that it went flying all over the counter.
“Sorry…sorry,” Ellie muttered, and made herself appear busy as she cleaned up her mess.
“You’re going to explain to Bonnie that I barely spoke to you, that I never went to your room without other people present, that I was always the first to leave. You’re going to tell the truth.”
She scoffed at me in disbelief, and I saw the menacing look she shot me, thinking she could lie and get away with it.
“I don’t know what he told you, Bonnie, but…” She tried to soften her voice and appear like she was the wronged party, like she was sorry.
“Don’t you dare lie,” I ground out, and she shot me a look that said what are you going to do about it?
I smirked at her. “One of the best things about not giving two shits about you is I couldn’t have cared less when you texted me. Meaning I kept everything. Every message of a room number, every unanswered message. I’ll go to HR and tell them you’re sexually harassing me.”
She looked at me, shocked, and her mouth dropped open. “You know that’s not true!” She actually stomped her foot, and I grinned at her.
“Isn’t it?”
“No! There are witnesses! We were never alone together! It was a group of us! It’ll never stick!
” The words flew out of her mouth, and she knew that she had given herself up.
She knew that I had gotten what I needed from her.
I didn’t give a shit about work or HR. All I cared about was Bonnie and showing her the truth.
“Get out.” Bonnie looked at her. “Or I’ll drag you out.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” she screeched.
“If she doesn’t, I sure as hell will,” Ellie said, blowing on her newly replaced cup of coffee.
“You’re all fucking crazy. Screw you, Elijah.”
“Hard pass.” I opened the door. The sooner she made her exit, the better.
“I’ll give you two a minute,” Ellie told us, and started to slip by as Bonnie and I continued to stare at each other. But I still whispered, “Thanks for the assist,” to her as she went. I thought we were far enough away from Bonnie that she wouldn’t have heard it.
“What did you just say? You were in on this?” She shot her friend an accusatory glance.
Ellie just shrugged her shoulders. “I’m a hopeless romantic.”
“You literally had a plan to murder him and dispose of the body!”
“Everyone needs a backup plan.” Ellie’s tone held zero remorse for her actions, and Bonnie’s chin wavered a little bit. I wondered if she would let me pull her into my arms.
“Traitor,” she said to Ellie, but I knew she didn’t mean it.
“No. Team Bonnie, always.” She playfully punched her shoulder, and then did what she said she was going to do and gave us some space. Bonnie watched her go until she could no longer pretend that was what she was doing, and turned her attention to me.
“You still lied. Or maybe you didn’t, but you weren’t honest. And you didn’t stick up for me. I don’t know how I feel about that, so I need some time.”
“Bonnie…” I wanted to argue with her, but she held her hands up.
“I’m not saying no. I’m just saying I need some time, and I need you to respect that, Elijah.
It’s been a very emotionally charged few days, and I just need…
I need to sit in it alone, okay?” She was asking, and as much as it pained me, I would give her whatever she wanted, even if it made me die a little bit inside.
“Okay, I’ll give you time.”
She looked at me, almost like she was considering my words, like she had expected me to put up a little bit more of a fight. I swore I saw a little bit of disappointment in her eyes.
“I’m only leaving because you’re asking, but I’m coming back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. You got me?”
Unable to help myself, I pulled her completely against me and just breathed in the smell of her shampoo. Coconut, lime, honey. Bonnie. Love. I kissed her head before I started to cry in front of her again. But this time, I was leaving with renewed hope. Hope.