Part 18 (1/2)
She took the phone away from her ear. ”Miranda, I have to take this,” she said lamely. ”I'm sorry.”
Tears still streaming down her face, Miranda looked at her best friend in shock.
”You're kidding, right? You're going to leave me here so you can talk to Kaia?”
Harper looked confused for a moment, then looked away.
”I'm sorry, I just have to.” She gave Miranda another hug, but Miranda pulled away.
”This won't take long,” Harper promised. ”I'll meet you back by the fire, and we'll talk the whole thing out. I swear.”
”Whatever.” Miranda turned away, her shoulders shaking. ”Have fun talking to Kaia. Tell her I say h.e.l.lo,” she added bitterly.
Harper didn't respond, and when Miranda finally turned around, she was gone.
Harper hurried back to the clearing and knelt by Adam's side, handing him her cell. ”Adam, there's a call on my phone that I think you need to take,” she whispered urgently.
”What? What do you mean?” He looked at the phone in confusion.
Harper pulled him away from the campfire and led him off into the woods, away from everyone, stopping when they'd reached a cl.u.s.ter of low-hanging trees.
”Just trust me, it's important-something you're going to want to hear.”
She left him alone and, bewildered, Adam put the phone to his ear. The reception was shockingly clear.
”h.e.l.lo?”
”Adam, it's Kaia.”
”Kaia? Jesus, what the h.e.l.l are you calling me for? And on Harper's phone?”
”Adam, don't hang up-please. This is serious.”
She sounded desperate and, against his better judgment, he took his finger off the end b.u.t.ton. For the moment.
”You've got one minute-talk,” he said gruffly.
”I don't know how to tell you this,” she began hesitantly. ”I went into school today-it was open, you know, and I wanted to do some laps in the pool, and, well, I didn't think there'd be anyone else there, but-”
She stopped.
”Spit it out,” he ordered.
”They were there when I came in,” she said haltingly. ”In the locker room. All over each other.”
”Who?” But he thought he knew. A hollow s.p.a.ce opened inside of him as he waited for the words to be spoken aloud, to make it real.
”Beth and Kane.”
There it was. Three syllables. Funny that it took so little to ruin everything.
”And I'm supposed to believe that? From you, of all people?” He wanted to believe she was lying-but couldn't. He was the one who'd been lying, to himself. All along, telling himself there was nothing to worry about. Stupid.
”Why would I lie about this, Adam? Look, I know I've treated you ... poorly in the past.”
He let out a barking laugh. That was the understatement of the year.
”But I have a lot of respect for you,” she said, emotion filling her voice. ”You don't deserve this.”
”Kaia, I'm not throwing away a two-year relations.h.i.+p on your say so,” he said hollowly.
”I thought you'd say that,” she responded. ”That's why I called on Harper's phone. It's camera-equipped-and I've got proof.”
He looked at the phone's tiny view screen, and a moment later there they were, right in front of him-Beth and Kane, in each other's arms. Naked. Entangled.
The screen was tiny, the resolution poor, but he could make out Beth's hair, her face, the mole on her left shoulder blade. He could see her kissing Kane, rubbing his bare chest, letting him lick her neck and-he flipped the phone shut. Hanging up on Kaia, shutting out the nightmarish pictures. He'd known it was true, yes, but to see it?
The images were seared into his brain. He smashed his fist into the ground, a volcano of rage erupting within him. He slammed the phone into the ground as hard as he could and stomped on it, imagining it was Kane's neck he was crus.h.i.+ng beneath his heavy boot.
”Adam, are you okay?” Harper asked tentatively, emerging from behind the trees.
”Go away, Harper,” he said in a strangled voice. No one should see him like this.
”Adam?”
”I just need some time alone, okay? I just-please, Harper, go.”
She nodded and backed away.
”You know where to find me when you need me,” she promised.
Promises-what were they worth to him anymore? Adam sank onto the ground and laid his head in his hands. Was this his fault? Had he started it, sleeping with Kaia in the first place?
No.
A cold certainty filled him, a righteous rage-this was no one-time thing, no harmless fling. This was Beth, his Beth, so innocent, so trustworthy-supposedly-and Kane, his best friend, his bro, his loyal and true ally. This was an affair, a dirty, sc.u.mmy, poisonous affair between two heartless traitors who'd betrayed him and everything he thought was real.
He wanted to scream.
He wanted to hit something, someone.
He wanted to cry.
But instead, he just sat there on the cold ground, immobile, silent.
It was all over now, all of it. There was nothing left.
When it became clear Adam had hung up on her, Kaia snapped the phone shut with a satisfied grin. He could deny it all he wanted, but she knew he'd believed her the moment the words were out of her mouth. He'd believed it before she even picked up the phone. The pictures were just gravy-but they'd definitely sealed the deal.