Chapter 1

Melissa POV 

The music was too loud. It was so loud I could feel the vibrations on the floor, and to be honest I wanted to get the fuck out of here.

I stood near the edge of the crowd, with my arms crossed over my chest, one heel tapping against the floor and no I wasn’t enjoying the music. 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The red dress Troy had picked out still felt like a costume on someone else’s body. The slit kept sliding up my thigh no matter how many times I tugged it down, and the neckline seemed determined to introduce my breast to every stranger in the room. I’d given up fighting it twenty minutes ago.

Everyone was drinking around me, the smell of bodies and cheap drinks were overwhelming.

Someone’s elbow caught my ribs as they danced past. I didn’t even bother turning around.

Troy had vanished into the crowd thirty minutes ago with a “just getting us drinks, babe” and hadn’t come back.

I pulled out my phone. No texts.

I exhaled slowly through my nose. Fine. Great. Wonderful.

A flash of purple caught my eye across the room, and despite everything, my mouth curved up.

Aria.

She had some guy pressed against the wall near the far corner, her fingers curled into his shirt collar, kissing him like she was trying to pull his soul from his body. The guy looked like he couldn’t believe his luck.

I shook my head, smiling for the first time today, typical Aria.

I rolled my eyes, but warmly. At least one of us was having a good time.

I was still watching her when someone came up to me.

“Hey, love.”

The voice came from my left. I turned tucking my wild hair behind my ear.

Two guys stood before me looking at me confidently. I knew both of them because we were in the same university. 

The one who’d spoken was broad, slightly glassy-eyed, his shirt hanging open at the collar. His friend stood just behind him, smirking like this was already going well.

“You are looking sexy tonight.” His eyes traveled down my body slowly, you look good enough to eat. “Come dance with us.”

He reached out and touched my arm.

I stepped back immediately, pulling free. “No thanks. I’m here with my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend.” He repeated it as the smirk on his face grew wilder “Sure you are.”

“I am.” My voice was flat. “So please move on.”

He didn’t move. Instead he leaned in slightly, close enough that I could smell the alcohol rolling off him. “Come on. One dance. He doesn’t have to know.”

“I said no.” I held his gaze. “Please back off.”

Something shifted in his expression. The easy amusement curdled into something uglier. He straightened up, looking me over with a frown on his face this time.

“You aren’t even as hot as you think you are, you know that?” His voice dropped. “Acting all high and mighty.”

I stared at him. “Okay.”

“I’m just saying.” He shrugged, but his jaw was tight. “Your man clearly doesn’t think so either.”

I blinked. “What?”

“I’m just saying what everyone already knows, love.” His smile turned meaner. “Maybe work on the attitude.”

“What do you mean?” My voice came out sharper than I intended. “What do you mean my man doesn’t think so?”

He exchanged another look with his friend. Something passed between them, something that made my stomach drop before I even understood why.

“Oh,” he said slowly, drawing it out. “Someone doesn’t know.”

“Know what?” The words came out before I could stop them.

His friend let out a low whistle. “Rough night to find out, honestly.”

The first guy tilted his head, and there was nothing kind in his expression. “Your boyfriend’s been busy tonight, love. Real busy.” He paused, letting it land. “Someone’s getting cheated on.”

The floor felt unsteady beneath my heels.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The words came out automatically, but they felt hollow even as I said them.

“Sure.” He shrugged, stepping aside and gesturing broadly at the room behind him. “Have a look around.”

They walked away, still laughing between themselves.

I stood there for one frozen second.

He’s wrong. He doesn’t know Troy. He doesn’t know anything.

But my feet were already moving.

I pushed through the crowd, my heart beating too fast. Bodies pressed in from every side. The music felt louder suddenly, as I looked at every corner, every group of people.

But I couldn’t find him.I pulled out my phone again and called him.

It rang four times and went to voicemail.

He’s just talking to someone. He’s just at the bar on the other side. There’s a perfectly normal explanation.

I tried to hold onto that as I kept moving. But the dread was already spreading, slow but very cold, from my chest outward.

That’s when I noticed people looking at me.

A few people near me had stopped talking. Someone pointed, quickly, then looked away when they caught me noticing. A girl whispered something to her friend, and her friend turned to stare.

My steps slowed. Everyone was looking behind me.

I stopped walking and then slowly turned around.

The massive television screen mounted on the lounge wall had come to life.

The lights in the room seemed to dim around it, or maybe that was just my vision tunneling. The crowd noise faded to a strange, distant hum.

Troy was on the screen.

I recognized him instantly. The blond hair, the set of his shoulders, the way he tilted his head when he kissed someone.

He was kissing someone.

His hands were tangled in blonde hair, pulling her closer like he couldn’t get close enough. The girl’s shirt was pushed up, and she pressed herself against him with absolutely no hesitation, no shame.

The VIP room curtains had been pulled back now and i couldn’t move.

My phone slipped from my fingers. I didn’t hear it hit the floor.

The girl turned her head slightly, and the screen caught her profile clearly under the VIP room lights.

My stomach lurched so violently I pressed a hand to my chest.

It was Tasha.

Tasha, who sat next to me in lectures. Tasha, who borrowed my notes and texted me memes and called me her girl. Tasha, who I’d introduced to Troy at a party three months ago because I thought they’d get along.

They’d gotten along.

The crowd around me had gone very quiet. I could feel eyes on me from every direction. I stood perfectly still in the middle of all of it.

I pressed my hand harder against my chest.

I couldn’t breathe. That was when the whispers started.

“She actually introduced them, she is just really foolish ”

“Poor thing thought they were just friends…”

And then, clear as day from somewhere behind me, I heard someone “Damn… and she gave him all her savings too. She deserves it, always thinking she is better than the rest of us.”