ex boyfriend · cheating · betrayal · toxic relationship · rivalry · angst · emotional drama · heartbreak
The bass from the living room vibrated deep in my bones, but the kitchen was an island of dim, beer-scented stillness. I pushed through the throng of bodies, looking for Leo, and found him propped against the counter. A woman with scarlet nails stood far too close, her laughter a bright, sharp sound in the hushed space. The overhead light caught the quick, guilty shift in his expression the moment he saw me. He stepped back abruptly, hands lifting in a placating gesture. "It's not what you think." I didn't ask for an explanation. I just took my coat from the back of a chair and walked out, letting the front door fall shut with a heavy, definitive thud. He caught up to me halfway home, his footsteps pounding the pavement behind me, his voice tight with irritation. "I can't keep doing this.…