Chapter 271: Finish That Sentence, I Dare You! [Ian’s POV]
"Hey," Ren said quietly. "You good?"
I still had my back turned back at him.
"You didn’t have to come out," I said. "You already did enough tonight."
"I came because Dominic told me to," he said softly. "And because... I owe you a conversation."
I laughed bitterly.
"Funny how conversations happen after damage."
"I didn’t mean to hurt you."
That sentence.
That stupid, cowardly sentence people use when they don’t want to sit in the wreckage they caused.
I spun around so fast he actually stepped back.
"Don’t," I snapped. "Don’t say that like it fixes anything."
"Ian...I..."
"No." My hand lifted on instinct. "You don’t get to soften it with that tone. You kissed her. In front of everyone. Say it properly."
His jaw tightened. "I panicked."
Panicked?
The word echoed in my head like a joke.
I scoffed. "You panicked?"
"Yes!" His voice cracked. "I panicked because I thought I was losing everything."
"And somehow that made hurting me okay?"
"It wasn’t about you!" he shot back...then froze.
My chest burned.
"There it is," I said quietly. "That’s the truth, right? It wasn’t about me."
"That’s not what I meant."
"But it is what you said."
He dragged a hand through his hair. "I didn’t betray you."
I laughed again. "You kissed my girlfriend. What do you call that?"
"She wasn’t even.."
He stopped himself.
But I already knew.
I knew exactly what he’d almost said.
She wasn’t even your official girlfriend.
The thought ripped through me.
So that’s how you justify it?
I stepped forward, pointing my finger. "Finish that sentence. I dare you!"
He didn’t.
Because he knew saying it out loud would make him the villain he was pretending not to be.
"You knew," I said quietly. "You knew how much I loved her."
He nodded. "I did."
"And you still did it."
"I wasn’t thinking."
"That’s the problem," I snapped. "You never think when it comes to feelings. You just act and expect forgiveness later."
"That’s not fair."
"Neither was standing there holding flowers while you kissed her."
His face fell. I saw the guilt in his eyes.
"I trusted you," I said. "Out of everyone. We promised to look out for each other."
I sniffled, holding back tears.
"We had rules," I continued. "We had lines we never crossed."
"You cheated on her first," he slammed his hand on the wall. "And you don’t get to stand there acting like the victim."
Something snapped inside me.
"I never fucking cheated on June."
"Oh really?" he scoffed. "So what do you call it then?"
"I don’t know...being accused of bullshit?"
"Yeah," he cut in. "Coming from you."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" I stepped closer, till i was chest to chest with him. "You don’t get to call me a cheater when you kissed my girlfriend in front of the whole school."
"And you don’t get to pretend June wasn’t in love with me first," he shot back.
That one hit.
"She liked me first," Ren continued, shaking with anger now. "And you knew it."
So what?
Does that mean she should love you forever?
"So?" I yelled. "You were dating Jackie the fuck. You ignored june first two whole years."
He clenched his fists. "Because I didn’t feel the same!"
"And when I started giving her attention," I snapped, "that’s when you suddenly realized she was worth your time."
"That’s not what happened!"
"Oh really?"
I shook my head, really frustrated at how ridiculous he sounds. "This is bullshit, Ren."
"You don’t get to say that," he snapped. "Not after what you did."
"I didn’t do anything!"
"You broke her."
Something ugly twisted in my chest.
"If I broke her," I said slowly, "then tell me.....since when did this start?"
He blinked. "What?"
"You and her," I pushed. "Since when were you messing around?"
His face hardened. "What do you mean ’messing around’?"
"Since when?" I snapped.
"The first night June and I got close," he said, quietly, "was the night she found out you cheated on her."
I lost it.
"Stop saying I cheated!" I shouted. "I never did!"
"She cried herself to sleep, Ian," he yelled back. "She cried so hard she couldn’t breathe."
My chest tightened.
"And when she finally slept," he continued, "she kept mumbling it. Over and over. You cheated on me with Crystal."
I froze.
"She doesn’t deserve that," he said quietly.
"Me and Crystal?" I whispered. "The last time anything happened between us was months ago."
"Then explain this," he shot back.
"Explain what?"
"How Crystal is two weeks pregnant," he said. "And how you told her to throw the trashy baby away. That is a terrible thing to say."
The world tilted.
"What the fuck did you just say?"
"Ash told me," he replied coldly. "Everything."
"What the fuck rumor is that?"
"Crystal told June what you did," he said.
Something inside me snapped.
"Fucking Crystal," I growled, tightening my fists.
"I would never," I shouted. "I would never do anything to hurt June."
"Then why did June believe it?" he demanded. "Why did she break like that?"
How would i know? She never trusted me.
Or maybe I never gave her enough reason to.
"That doesn’t make it true," I snapped. "That makes it a lie she was fed."
We stood there, breathing heavily.
I ran a hand through my hair, still shocked with what i was accused of.
Who in their right senses would call a baby ’trashy’?
"You think I wanted this?" Ren asked quietly. "You think I wanted to hurt you?"
"Then why did you?" I shot back.
His voice cracked.
"Because she needed someone. And you weren’t there."
That was it.
That line shoved me over the edge.
I shoved his chest in anger.
He stumbled back, looking shocked.
"What the hell?!"
"You crossed every line," I shouted. "And now you’re tryibg to play hero?"
He shoved me back.
"You don’t get to put your hands on me either," he snapped.
"You already did worse," I yelled, slamming my fists on his face, as the pain flared in my knuckles.
He came at me, punching my jaw. I tasted blood.
"Stop!" Ren yelled, shoving me again.
I swung anyway.
"Ian!" Dominic yelled, grabbing my wrist. "That’s enough! What the fuck is wrong with you two?"
Casper and Jasper were there too, dragging Ren back.
"Let go of me!" I shouted.
My chest heaved.
I wasn’t furious. Fury had burned out. What was left was this emptiness in my chest.
Ren wiped blood from his mouth, staring at the ground.
