glance at the phone screen. “It was called Cellular,” I mumble.
“Ha! Damn, you were right about it being a cellphone movie,” a laughing Darius says to Pippa.
“I told you so.”
As everyone starts chatting again, I drop the phone in Nico’s lap. His deep brown eyes study me carefully. “Babe?”
I’m having a tough time finding my voice. I truly don’t know what to say. Corinne is still talking to Kyler, but for some reason I know she’s listening to me and Nico.
I draw a shaky breath. Why did his phone instantly connect to her Wi-Fi? That would suggest he’s been back here since moving day, but why would he ever need to be? She’s my friend, not his. I can see him hanging out with Pippa without me, but not Corinne.
The tequila gurgles in my stomach. Fuck. Am I going to throw up?
“Demi, what’s wrong?” Nico urges.
I weakly meet his gaze. “Corinne only set up her Wi-Fi a week after she moved in.”
For one fast second, panic flits through his expression. But it happens so quickly that I can’t be sure.
“Okay, that is weird, then,” he says, pursing his lips. “I wonder why it just connected like that.”
“Yeah, I wonder,” I say tightly.
Our hushed conversation draws Pippa’s attention. “What’s going on?” she asks.
“Nothing,” Nico says instantly.
But Pippa knows me well. One look at my face and she’s already sliding off Darius’s lap.
“What’s going on?” she repeats, her sharp gaze moving from me to Nico and then back to me.
I open my mouth but nothing comes out. Slowly, I turn my head toward Corinne. She’s looking right back, and the guilty cloud in her eyes is all it takes for me to bolt to my feet.
The room spins for a moment. With three shots of tequila swimming in my gut, now I really am in danger of vomiting.
I choke down the bile coating my throat. “You have got to be kidding me,” I spit out. “How long?”
Corinne takes a step toward me. “It’s not what you’re thinking—”
“How long have you been fucking my boyfriend, Corinne?” My head swivels toward Nico. “How long have you been fucking her?”
The entire room goes dead silent. On the TV screen, ScarJo is bickering with Chris Evans and suddenly the movie doesn’t feel so cute and funny anymore. It feels like a slap in the face, these stupid people falling in love when I’ve just been blind-sided by my boyfriend of eight years.
“Oh shit,” Darius murmurs. His voice is low, and he seems as stunned as I feel. I don’t think he knew about this. I don’t think anyone did, except for Hunter.
Hunter tried to warn me. He found the courage to tell me what he saw at the party and—
I abruptly turn to Corinne again. “Was that you at the frat party?” I demand.
She blinks. “What?”
“A couple of weekends ago, the party at the Alpha Delta house on Saturday night—were you there with Nico?”
She rapidly shakes her head. “No, I swear I wasn’t. I’m in a study group with Kyler and Ahmed and we meet Saturday night.”
She gestures to the two guys, who are quick to back up her alibi. “We were all together,” Kyler says awkwardly.
“Then how long has this been going on?” My voice is cold.
“It only happened once,” she blurts out. “Just one time, I swear.”
My stomach roils again. I don’t want to hear anymore. I’m done.
Gulping hard, I spin on my heel and stomp toward the door. Nico chases after me, his pleading voice echoing through the small apartment.
“Demi, please, stop! Let me explain.”
“Explain what?” I roar, whirling around. “You cheated on me with my friend! And then again with some other girl at the party! Who was she? How many goddamn women are you screwing?”
“I didn’t cheat on you. She’s lying—”
“Hey!” Corinne flies forward. “I am not lying!”
I flick my gaze her way and glimpse a flash of outrage. It’s directed at my boyfriend.
“I’m not lying, Demi,” Corinne says quietly. “It happened.”
And I believe her.
“Pippa,” I say in a wobbly voice. “Get me an Uber. Now.” I’m fighting tears, because my phone’s dead and I’m trapped here in this stupid apartment with my traitorous friend and my cheating boyfriend and I just want to crawl in a fucking hole and die.
“On it,” Pippa tells me.
“Demi.” Nico tries to grab my arm.
On instinct I swing my other arm and clock him in the face. His head rears back, a bitter curse ripped out of his mouth.