57

Pain shot through my fingers as I gripped the pages. My eyes scanned the paragraphs, and the words twisted in my gut. The story laid out the things I’d done with Becca , the things I’d fantasized about, in graphic detail. A burning heat, deeper than any anger I’d ever felt, coiled tightly around my ribs. “What the hell?” The words on the paper—it was me, our intimate moments, and fantasies I didn’t even know she’d imagined, all written out.

I shoved the papers toward Dave and Cole. Cole took them when Dave froze, his hands hanging limply at his sides. I didn’t blame him—his face was locked in a grimace of frustration, the kind that made my blood boil.

The dim lighting in the room suddenly felt fitting. What better way to learn about betrayal than in the shadows of this cramped apartment?

Becca  stood unsteadily, her brows furrowed either from pain or guilt. “I can explain.” She was caught, and she damn well better explain.

“Yeah?” My voice shot out, raw with anger. The feeling gnawed inside me, hot and relentless. “Explain why our sex life is on those pages?” I pointed at Cole, who held the papers up for Dave and me to see.

Dave took them from Cole, flipping through them too quickly to read properly.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that. I…” She rubbed her temples, trying to soothe the anxiety building in her. “I was mad at you, and I was… horny. So I wrote a story about what I thought you’d be like in bed.” She glanced around the room, looking for something to grasp onto.

“What did you think you were going to do with this?” I gestured toward the papers in Dave’s hands. His face had gone a pale shade of gray, only made worse by the lack of light. He stepped back, gripping the edge of an antique table for stability. I’d always thought Becca ’s place had charm—old typewriters, leather couches, a blend of modern and Victorian style. Now, though, I only saw suspicion. “You said you wanted to be a romance author. Were we just material for your stories?”

“No,” she said, her hands raised in surrender. “It wasn’t like that.” She took a shaky breath. “I mean, yeah, I used you for inspiration, but it’s not really about you.”

“Not really about me?” My hands raked through my hair and down my neck, frustration taking over. “You wrote out our sexual experiences, Becca .”

She winced, caught in her lie.

Cole grabbed the pages from Dave, his grip tightening until they nearly tore. “I can’t speak to the sex, but this character isn’t you,” he said, his eyes cold as he stepped toward Becca . “But damn, these characters look a lot like us. You better have a damn good reason for this. We’re people too. You can’t just use us like this.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Becca  said, her hands covering her face, her chest rising and falling with each shallow breath. “I was working on a different story, one that I thought would get me published. But I messed up, and Falcon destroyed the papers. It would’ve been easy to keep going, but inspiration hit when I was in class with Evan , and I started a new book.” She pointed at the papers. “That book.”

Silence hung in the room. I wanted her to sit in her own mess, to understand the full weight of what she’d done, especially if anyone found out about this and our relationship was exposed this way.

Cole flung the papers in frustration, watching them scatter across the table before spilling onto the floor. “So you used us for inspiration. You took our real-life relationship and turned it into a story?”

“What were you planning to do with this?” I repeated my question, since she hadn’t answered it before.

Falcon danced at our feet, oblivious to the tension in the room. I leaned down and ruffled his ears. It wasn’t his fault we were fighting, but I was grateful he’d brought us these papers when he did. I couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened if we’d found out about this later.

Becca  stood tall despite her headache and the urge to disappear. I could see the regret starting to form in her eyes—remorse for the mess she’d made. And she damn well should feel it. We’d caught her in the act of ruining us.

“Once I wrote the first chapter, I knew I had something special,” Becca  said, her chin tilting upward. “I was going to ask for your permission, but things got crazy.”

“That doesn’t excuse it.” Dave’s anger was palpable. He stood rigid, arms crossed, and his scowl deepened, like he was ready to explode. “You can’t just say, ‘oops,’ and move on.”

Becca  took the hit with grace, lowering her head in acknowledgment. “Fair point. You’re right. I did plan to use it for a story. I’ve always thought you guys were fascinating, and I was struggling to find something I loved to write about. I thought I could change the characters enough that no one would recognize you.”

“Pretty hard to ignore that you used my actual name and thought no one would notice.” Anger churned in my stomach, choking me into silence.

“Just your first name. And I did change it in the editing,” she hurried to explain. “That’s just a rough draft.” She smoothed her skirt, letting out a sigh. “But yes, I did plan to send it out for publishing once it was finished. I was going to ask, but then the pregnancy news threw me off.”

“Still not an excuse,” Cole said, crossing his arms. “How long have you been working on this? You said you started before you and Evan —”

Her expression shifted from nervousness to fear, her face drained of color. She slumped inward. “I’ve been posting it online, chapter by chapter. I didn’t use any of your real names.”

Like that made everything okay.

Dave and Cole both cursed, their frustration thick in the air. I couldn’t even bring myself to speak because the anger inside me was enough to end things for good. I had been used. Again. How could we move forward now? My career, my life—it all rested in Becca ’s hands, and she’d gone ahead and published a story based on us.

“No one knows it’s about you,” she said, rushing to explain herself. “I published it under a pen name, on a serial site. The first chapter went semi-viral, and each chapter’s been doing better. I’ve gained a solid readership.”

“With characters based on real life,” Dave said, his eyes shutting as he processed it all. His anger turned into something deeper—pain.

I hated seeing this hit him so hard. He’d already been betrayed once, and now, just as he was opening his heart, Becca  had turned around and used him for her own gain.

“This is unacceptable,” I said, my voice low and cold. I moved toward her. “Where is this posted? I’m reading it. Then we’ll talk about what happens next.”

Becca , eyes welling with tears, nodded and scrambled out of the room. “I’ll log you in. You can read everything.” Her voice trailed off as she hurried down the hall. “You’ll see—if you hadn’t seen your name in the rough draft, you wouldn’t know it was about you. It’s just that… you’ve lived it.” Her voice quivered.

“Are either of you okay with her publishing our sexual experiences online?” I turned to Dave, knowing Cole would probably forgive her—he was the type to try to understand. But this? I didn’t trust him to judge this situation right now.

Dave gave a small shrug, his shoulders weary. “I’m not sure I can answer that just yet. Let’s read what she posted and go from there.”

Dave was a good guy. Too good, sometimes, with his tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt. It was probably what love was supposed to be about, but right now, I was too angry to temper my feelings.

Becca  returned, laptop in hand, and color in her cheeks. “I wasn’t experienced enough to write the sex scenes myself,” she said, handing me the laptop. “I tried looking things up, but it didn’t work out. That’s no excuse.” She held out the computer to me, the screen showing a pink frame around the first page of her story. “I thought if this did well, I could catch the eye of a publisher later. I never meant to hurt you.”

I could either choose to believe that or choose not to. I opted for the latter, grabbing the laptop and heading for the couch. Dave and Cole followed, settling next to me as we read through her story together. I could appreciate the flow of her writing, but each page made my stomach twist. The character was me, but not exactly. The further we read, the more I understood why she thought no one would recognize us. She’d changed enough details to make us look different, but the core—our traits—were all there.

And the sex scenes? They made me want to take her straight into the bedroom and act out everything she’d written.

A grin tugged at Cole’s lips. “We haven’t done that yet.” He pointed at the screen, emphasizing “yet,” and Becca  blushed even deeper. “Guess that’s why you brought it up.” Was it me, or did his voice have a bit of a bite to it?

A notification popped up on the screen.

Dave leaned in, squinting. “You’ve got an email from Donny Scott.”

“Will you open it?” Becca  knelt down to pick up Falcon, holding him tightly under her chin. “I can’t handle this alone.”

Good to know there were still things she needed us for—though this wasn’t exactly the best reason to have us around.

Dave took the laptop and opened the email. A few clicks later, we all read it. My heart sank.

“What does it say?” Becca ’s voice was trembling, her face buried in Falcon’s fur so I couldn’t see her expression.

Dave looked to me for confirmation before reading aloud. “Donny Scott has a deal for you. You can keep your scholarship and continue your education. But you’re required to transfer to our sister college in Florida. And the three of us must stay here in California. If we break any of these terms, we’ll be fired, and you’ll lose your scholarship.”