On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,116
Victoria dressed in nothing but a shirt.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“I... is Zach here?” My brows furrowed.
I couldn’t stop looking at her. Her long bare legs peeked out from under the shirt, a man’s shirt.
Zach’s shirt.
No.
My stomach fell away as the truth of what I was seeing slammed into me.
No, he wouldn’t.
She was his brother’s girlfriend, and I was his—
“He’s a little preoccupied right now.” Her voice yanked me from my thoughts, the smug victory painted on her face like a slap in mine.
“But you’re Declan’s—”
“I know. It’s weird, right? But Zach and I have been helping each other come to terms with things and well, it just happened.”
“N- no, he wouldn’t.” I sucked in a shaky breath, feeling myself begin to unravel. “We’re... I’m his...”
“Look, I know you two share history. He told me all about it. Even showed me the photograph...” She smirked. “I gotta say, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Ph- photograph?” I felt sick.
“Yeah. The one from Halloween.”
I couldn’t process what she was saying.
Zach still had the photo of me from last Halloween... and he’d showed it to her?
Fuck. I was going to puke. I was going to puke all over her, standing there looking like a supermodel, wearing his shirt.
“I need to go.” I took off down the hall, stumbling my way down the stairs, and spilled out onto the sidewalk.
I barely made it around the side of the building into the alley before my entire stomach contents emptied all over the ground.
I’d promised myself never to let Zachary Messiah hurt me for a third time...
Yet here I was, my heart in pieces and my pride in tatters again.
And this time, I only had myself to blame.
Zach
“Fuck,” I groaned, reaching out and fumbling around to locate the persistent bleeping piercing my skull. My fingers grazed my cell and I dragged it to my ear. “What?”
“I swear to God, Messiah, if you don’t answer your door right now, I will kick the fucking thing down.”
“Callum?” I shot upright, rubbing my temples. I hadn’t even checked the name, my eyes bleary from a night I’d rather forget.
My chest tightened as I forced out the memories.
“I mean it, Zach. Answer your fucking door.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep your hair on.” I climbed out of bed and pulled on some shorts. My room was a fucking mess, clothes strewn everywhere.
Running a hand through my bed hair, I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror. I was a mess. Hickeys dotted my neck and chest, so I grabbed a t-shirt on the way out and pulled it over my head. Callum didn’t need to see those.
The second I opened the door, he burst inside, knocking me backward. “What the fuck?” I barked, righting myself.
“I should knock your head clean off your shoulders, you fucking asshole.”
“Whoa, man,” my hands went up, the banging in my skull making it a little hard to concentrate. “I know I screwed up, but I can explain.”
“Explain? You’ve got some fucking nerve, man, screwing my sister over like that and standing there acting like you didn’t break her heart all over again.”
Shit.
I’d known Calli would be upset, but I didn’t think—
“This is what I was worried about,” he hissed. “I knew the second you two were in close proximity everything would go to shit again. I should never have told her to come here.”
I jerked back as if he’d slapped me. “What did you say?”
“Last night, after you left, we talked... and I told her to come here because you needed her. What a fucking chump I am.”
“She was here?” My brows knitted. “But that doesn’t—”
“Yeah, she was here. Me and Josie spend the entire night trying to calm her down. She’s fucking crushed. How could you do that to her? To Declan? You’re a real fucking piece of work, Zach—”
He wasn’t making any sense but the pounding in my head wouldn’t stop. I padded over to the refrigerator and pulled out a gallon of juice, chugging it down.
“Really? That’s all you’ve got to say for yourself?” Callum followed me.
When I’d drained the thing dry, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I can’t think with you yelling at me and the hangover—”
“Hangover?”
“Yeah, I didn’t exactly enjoy seeing my dad like that. We managed to get him back to his hotel, but he was a fucking mess. We came back here and well, you can see how well that worked out for me.” I flicked my eyes to the empty bottles littered everywhere.