Page 72 of The Heart Breaker

Cole’s voice cuts through my head, calling me pathetic for defending Chase at the start of the semester. It got under my skin because the worst part was that I’d always thought the exact same thing about girls who stayed with guys who cheated on them.

And then I unknowingly became one of them.

Chase steps closer and lowers his voice. “Just come by my hotel room later. I just want to talk, Aurora. Please. You owe me that. After three years, you owe me that much.”

My mouth actually falls open.

“I owe you?” I repeat, and a hollow laugh tears out of me. “After three years, you owed me loyalty. At the very least, you owed me the truth.”

His shoulders dip. “Babe, please. Let’s just?—”

“Fuck you,” I snap, shoving at his chest before I turn and walk away.

By the time I make it back to my apartment, my head is still buzzing from seeing Chase. The look on his face keeps flashing back at me, making my jaw clench. I still can’t believe he had the audacity to stand there and tell me I owed him anything. Whatever I owed Chase, I paid already. And whatever he thinks he deserves from me now, he can sit in that shitty hotel room and keep waiting, because he’s not getting another second of my time.

I unlock the door, step inside, and kick off my boots.

Isabella looks up from the couch. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yeah,” I lie, already shrugging out of my coat. “Just cold. And hungry.”

She chuckles, tugging the blanket higher. “You’re going to the game tonight, right?”

She doesn’t say the rest, but she doesn’t need to. Chase will be there. That’s the whole reason he’s in town, why he’s suddenly sniffing around again, trying to worm his way back into my life.

I drop my bag on the table and shrug out of my coat. “Yeah. I still like hockey.” I grab a hair tie from the bowl by the door and twist my hair up. “He doesn’t get to ruin that for me too.”

Isabella smiles. “Good.” She pushes up from the couch, still wrapped in the blanket. “I’m going to take a nap before we go. I need energy for tonight.”

She disappears into her room, as soon as her door clicks shut, I let out a breath and head for mine.

I change out of my jeans and top, pull on an oversized T-shirt and a pair of sweats, then grab my laptop and press play on my annual rewatch of Hunter x Hunter.

I hit pause a few minutes later when I hear a knock on the front door, and I blink, confused. It’s probably Ryan, so I climb out of bed and head toward the door, but when I pull it open, I’m stunned to silence when I see Cole Ellis standing in the hallway.

His jaw flexes as he chews on a piece of gum. For as long as I’ve known him, he’s always had a piece in his mouth, and for a fleeting second, I can’t help but wonder why.

But then his eyes flick over me, and I’m suddenly very aware of the fact that I’m in sweats, my hair shoved into a messy bun, looking nothing like I usually do around him.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper, keeping my voice down.

“You didn’t answer my text.”

My eyes narrow. “So that means you just show up at my apartment?”

I dart a quick glance down the hallway. It’s empty, but my heart is still pounding.

“You can’t be here.”

Before he can say anything else, I grab his wrist and yank him inside, shutting the door behind him before anyone can come out into the hall. Before Isabella wakes up.

His lips tilt. “Someone’s eager.”

“Shut up,” I snap, dragging him toward my bedroom. “I’m serious.” I shove the door closed behind us and lock it, then turn and glare at him. “I have a roommate, remember? One who has no idea we’re hooking up.”

“I remember,” he says, slipping his hands into his pockets as he looks around my room.

For the first time since this whole mess between us started, I feel uncomfortable.