Page 25 of Noctis

“I…”

It was rare for Remy to be at a loss for words. “You… what?” I asked coldly.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“How about starting with the goddamn truth? How long have you two been fucking behind my back?”

“A couple of months.”

The words went between my ribs like a knife. I closed my eyes, trying to absorb the fact that two of the people I trusted the most had been lying to me for months.

“Rowan, I’m really sorry. Tyler has really been struggling since your mum’s death.”

“Tyler’s been struggling?” The words burst out of me.

“You were so cold and distant with him.”

“My mother was murdered.”

“I know, and it was terrible. It’s still terrible. I’m just trying to get you to see things from Tyler’s point of view.”

Of all the ways I’d imagined this conversation unfolding, I’d never once considered that Remy might try to justify what they’d done.

“So what you’re telling me is that poor, neglected Tyler had to come and cry on your shoulder because I’m such a self-centered bastard?”

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that?”

“How would you put it?”

“He was upset. You froze him out. He tried to be there for you, but you wouldn’t let him. You wouldn’t talk to me about it either. He said you’d only had sex a couple of times since it happened.”

“He said that, did he?” My voice had become glacial.

“He felt as though you were no longer attracted to him.”

“And what if I told you Tyler was lying? What if I told you we had sex two days before he dumped me here?”

“He wouldn’t lie.”

“Wouldn’t he?” The hypocrisy was so staggering that for a second, I could hardly speak. “So I’m lying, then?”

“I… I don’t know. You’re angry. I get that. You’re probably going to say things just to hurt me.”

I laughed. “I’m going to hurt you?”

“Tyler is—”

“You know what? I don’t even want to hear you say his name. I hope you two spend the rest of your lives together, because imagine if you don’t and you threw away a nineteen-year friendship for something that didn’t last.”

“Rowan…”

I didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say. “Give Tyler a message from me, seeing as he’s pretending I don’t exist. Tell him he’s got forty-eight hours to pack his shit and get out of my house.”

“That’s not very long. He―”

“Maybe he should have thought about that before sticking his dick somewhere it wasn’t supposed to go.”

“Rowan…”