Lahat ng Kabanata ng He Cheats, And I Cheated Right Back : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

POV: AvaI called Dillan the moment my hands stopped shaking enough to hold my phone still.It went straight to voicemail.I called again. Then again. By the fourth attempt, I stopped leaving messages. I just ended the call and dialled him back immediately, over and over, my thumb moving faster than my thoughts.Then I sent him a text.Is this real? Is he really alive? I need to see him, Dillan. Please.Nothing.Answer me. Please. I’m begging you.Still nothing. Just two grey ticks sitting there, unread, as if they were laughing at me.I kept trying for more than an hour. I sat on the hallway floor long after it had gone cold beneath me, pressing the phone so hard against my ear that I gave myself a headache. Every few minutes, I told myself he was probably busy. That he would call back soon. That a man cruel enough to show me those photos would not simply leave me in silence afterwards.By midnight, I understood exactly what he was doing. He wanted me to suffer. He wanted me to feel

POV: AvaI nodded, gave him my best smile, and left him to his work, heading back to my own office, my heart still hammering harder than it had any business doing over one brush of fingers against my cheek.Walking the hallway back to my desk, I let myself admit, privately, exactly what I'd been avoiding admitting since last night. God, he's such a good kisser. The thought arrived unbidden and entirely unwelcome, and I had to physically shake my head to dislodge it before I walked straight into a filing cabinet.This wasn't supposed to be real. That had been the entire point, the whole careful architecture of this arrangement, a performance with clean edges and an agreed-upon end date. But somewhere between the sofa and Coney Island and that kiss on the sand, the lines had blurred past anything I could pretend not to notice anymore. I thought about the way his hand found mine without either of us deciding it should. The way my whole body lit up at the smallest, most incidental touch,

POV: Dominic"That's us here," Joseph said.Thank God, was my first thought. I got out of the car as quickly as I reasonably could, grateful for the fresh air. I needed to get a grip on myself if I wanted tonight to actually work. I came around and helped her out properly."Ready?" I asked."As ready as I can be. This isn't going to work, Dominic, unless you relax. You seem really on edge," she said.Wasn't she usually the nervous one between us? I had to give her credit, she was remarkably observant. I nodded, put on my best smile, wrapped my arm tightly around her waist, pulling her close, and led her inside the second we crossed the threshold."Dominic, my darling boy," I heard a familiar voice call, already hurrying toward me.My aunt has always had a soft spot for me. She'd stepped fully into the role of mother to Milo and me in the two years since my own mother passed, grief finishing what my father's death had already started in her, a decline so fast it had barely given me tim

POV: Ava“I heard that. You’re supposed to love me.”“I love Ava more.”“That’s becoming obvious.”“Good,” I said. He leaned toward me.“You’re enjoying this.”“Very much.”“But you’ll come to dinner with me?”“If you behave.” His aunt clapped her hands.“Wonderful. It’s settled.”“Apparently it is,” I said. Dominic bent closer, his mouth near my ear.“You realize you’ve just agreed to spend an entire evening with my family.”“I’m aware.”“Are you nervous?”“A little.”“Don’t be. I’ll protect you.”“From what?”“My uncle’s terrible jokes. My cousin’s interrogation. My aunt’s questions about our future children.” I stared at him.“She wouldn’t.”“She absolutely would.” I laughed again, and his smile grew.“There,” he said quietly. “That’s four.”“Four what?”“Laughs.”“You really are keeping count.”“I told you. It’s my favorite part of the evening.” He admits shamelessly.We talked about small, easy things after that. Like his aunt’s travels, Milo’s school, a recipe she insisted I had

POV: AvaCaleb turned back to me.“Please come with him. I do not want him showing up alone. I also do not want him bringing one of the less classy women he usually takes to these events.”Dominic stared at him. “I do not bring women like that.”“You absolutely do.”“I do not.”“You once brought a woman who tried to steal the champagne from the bride’s table.”“She was thirsty.”“She was carrying three bottles.”The table erupted in laughter.Caleb stayed with us for a while longer before returning to his fiancée and family.When he left, Dominic turned toward me.“You do not have to attend any of these parties if you do not want to,” he said.“I do not mind,” I replied. “It has been a long time since I went to a proper party.”“You have not been going out?”“Not really.”He looked thoughtful.“Same,” he said. “Maybe we both need to let loose.”He gave me another wink.I smiled, but something about his words made me pause. Dominic had been slowly pulling away from his friends since hi