Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“He’s not dragging me into anything, Liv. Maybe his parents are okay with sweeping things under the rug, but he deserves peace. Mal deserves justice.”
“Mallory was SICK, Josslyn!” She slaps a hand on the table, her eyes flashing from me to Finn. “I’m not saying your sister deserved to die or that you shouldn’t find your peace, but Josslyn definitely doesn’t deserve to have her mental health fucked with over this. Not over Mallory!”
“Livie,” I warn.
Beside me, Finn tenses. “What does that mean?”
She glances at him, then looks back at me with a pointed look on her face that makes my stomach drop. I shake my head slowly, pleading.
“What does that mean?” Finn demands. “Why are you looking at her like that?”
“It doesn’t mean anything,” I say quietly.
“Oh, fuck off, Josslyn!” She holds up a few pages and shakes them. “You can’t tell me I’m full of it after seeing these. She was obsessed with you!”
My stomach clenches again. I sit on my hands to hide the shaking.
“Did she … was she in love with you?” Finn asks, his voice a hoarse whisper.
A knot climbs to my throat, and I don’t dare look at him, let alone answer. Not that I’d know what to say if I could.
“Do you need more proof?” Livie asks, still holding the papers and looking at me. “I fucking told you.”
“You’re making her uncomfortable,” Finn says, voice low. “Either speak clearly or get out.”
He has that unreadable look on his face that I can’t stand, and even though I am uncomfortable and my hands are shaking, I feel the need to slide my hands from under me and reach for his. He glances at me, eyes softening, as he threads our fingers together. When he looks at Livie again, his expression shifts right back to indifference. It’s scary that he can switch off like that in a blink.
Livie straightens, shock clear on her face for a moment before she starts speaking. “Mal and I ran into each other at one of your mom’s country club parties a while back. It was the usual group of people. Somehow the conversation turned to Joss. When I said we were good friends, Mallory freaked out and asked me to introduce them. I hadn’t seen her in years, but I’d never known Mallory to want to meet someone. Ever.”
“Yeah, me either,” Finn mutters beside me. I run my thumb over the back of his hand.
“After I introduced them, Mal started acting like Joss belonged to her,” she says, pursing her lips. “It was little things. Like one day, she came over while Joss was showing me pictures of a bathing suit shoot she did for a sports magazine. Mallory looked at them and went crazy. She called her a whore for sharing her body with the entire world and demanded she not post the pictures.”
This is so fucking uncomfortable. I already know it’s going to get worse. I wish I could cover Finn’s ears. I wish I could cover mine. I try to comfort him again, running my thumb over his hand, but this time, he pulls his hand away from mine. I’m surprised at how much it hurts. It’s worse when I look at him and he doesn’t meet my eyes. I cross my arms and sink back in my seat.
“Mal would trash everyone she knew and try to get me to conspire in pushing them out of Josslyn’s life.” She takes a sip of wine. “She wanted to isolate her and keep her to herself.”
“That’s not true,” I say quietly. “I was always in practice and games and hanging out with you guys.”
Liv stares at me for a moment. “She hated when I was around. She hated Tate, which … fine. None of us liked him. She barely liked Damian. She fucking hated when Tiago was around.”
“Okay. That’s a lie. She fucked him, so I don’t think she hated it as much as you think,” I say sharply.
“Jesus Christ,” Finn mumbles quietly.
“Tiago always liked YOU, Josslyn!”
“Oh my fucking—”
“No. Stop denying it. Why do you think Tate hated him?”
“Tate doesn’t like anyone who isn’t rich or can’t help him get ahead,” I snap, hating how long it took me to realize that.
“Did she or did she not invite you to have a threesome with her and Tiago?”
“OH MY GOD.” I bury my face in my hands. “That’s not even relevant.”
“It kind of is,” she says softly. I glance up and she smiles sadly at me. “Did you tell Finn why you were at Onyx that night?”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Yeah.”
“Did you tell him how Mallory used to show up at your apartment in the middle of the night?”
“You need to stop, Liv,” I say shakily.
“Did you tell him about the night she was literally naked on your couch waiting for you to come home, only to find that—surprise—you weren’t alone, and Damian and I were in tow?” she asks, ignoring me.