Chapter 15

I ran out the front door sobbing. I’d forgotten to put on shoes, but there was no way I was going back in my house to get them. My brother. My lover.

I gagged and bent over the bushes to dry heave but nearly fell over from being light-headed. I didn’t know where to go. My house was no longer a refuge.

Bethany was a stranger to me now. I couldn’t understand how someone who loved me could hurt me like she had. She had to know it would kill me. Kill us. Our bestie connection was severed and I couldn’t imagine how we could ever be friends again.

When we discussed bringing Mark into our relationship, I put it in her hands. I told her straight up that it was her call. I told her she was my girlfriend and we would only be with Mark if she allowed it. She had embraced him with me.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stared around the street. No one was out. Good. I needed to go somewhere and think. Clear my head. Everything was too sharp and bright, so I stumbled down the street.

The pain ebbed away to a kind of hollow numbness. I couldn’t get the image of my brother sliding up Bethany’s body out of my mind. The repetitive sound of Joe’s squeaky bed rang endlessly in my ears. He was fucking my best friend. She wanted him more than she wanted me.

Tears still leaked out along with the cold sweat of nausea. My body had been twisted with cramps all week, but that was nothing compared to the pain I felt in my chest. The pain was a living thing, boring me out and leaving me empty.

I found myself at Mark’s door. I sniffed and wiped my eyes. Before I could think too much I pushed the doorbell. Mason opened the door with a confused expression on his face.

“Hey. Where’s your twin?” he said.

Fucking my brother. “Is Mark here? Joe wanted me to tell him something.”

“Sure,” he said and backed up to let me in. “Up in his room.”

Mason headed back to the living room to put on his headset and pick up a game controller. He was already lost in the game when I stepped upstairs.

Mark was sitting at his desk doing homework when I stopped in the doorway. He had changed from the jeans and shirt I’d seen earlier to a pair of running shorts. The skin of his back was smooth, but rippled over the muscles as he typed. I guess he felt my eyes on him, because he glanced back.

When he saw me, his expression shifted to something warm and happy. That instant reaction to seeing me told me more than words could say. Then he must have noticed my expression or my red eyes because he frowned in worry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked and opened his arms to me.

I ran to him and threw myself into his chest. Sobs made it impossible to speak for a moment, but he just held me and ran his hands over my back until I got myself together.

“Bethany and Joe,” I choked out, but my throat closed before I could explain.

Mark’s temples pulsed as he clenched his jaw. “Did he force her?”

“No,” I whispered. “She wanted to be with him.”

“What the hell?” His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Didn’t she talk to you about it first?”

I shook my head as another sob pushed out of the empty hole in my heart. “I hate her,” I growled.

“Oh, Squirt, this is what I was worried about. You guys are too young to be gettin’ into all this. Sex makes things so much harder.”

“She was my girlfriend! My best friend!” I started getting mad and Mark sat me back to stand on my own feet. “I’m gonna kick her ass and tell her Mom.”

“Wait,” Mark said and gripped my arms to stop me and get my attention. “Do you want your brother to go to jail?”

“Yes!” I was so angry, but then I thought of what it would to do to my parents. “No.”

“Let’s go talk to them. We need to get this out in the open.”

Mark held my hand as we walked back to my house. When we opened the front door we were greeted by the sound of the squeaking bed and Bethany’s cries of passion.

“Oh, yes! Fuck me!”

“God, you’re so tight. I love your body.”

Mark pulled me up the stairs until we stood in Joe’s doorway. Bethany was on her knees holding the headboard while Joe fucked her like a dog.

“Dude, seriously?” Mark asked with a rising note of disbelief.

Joe screamed like a little girl and pulled out his condom-wrapped cock with a wet pop. “What the hell, Mark?”

“Your little sister’s best friend?” Mark shook his head.

I was still holding his hand, half-hiding behind him because I really didn’t want to see anymore.

“You need to leave, Bethany.” My cold tone made her face twist up.

“So it’s okay for you to have your dream guy, but not me?” she whined.

“What dream guy?” Joe looked like he’d eaten something sour.

“You were my girlfriend first,” I cried. “I never would have run off and done something to hurt you like this.”

“How does this hurt you?” Bethany asked as she turned around to hop off the bed. “Why does this change anything? It’s no different than you and Mark.”

“If you have to ask that, then we’re done.” I was livid when I stepped around Mark to pick up her clothes and throw them at her. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

“Wait,” Bethany said as she caught her shorts and panties. Her voice broke when she saw how angry I was. “Talk to me.”

“You’re not my girlfriend anymore. You’re not even my friend anymore.”

“Hold on, are you two lez or something?” Joe was a little slow.

We both stopped and looked at him. “And this is your dream guy?” I asked with a cruel laugh.

“Screw you, Stephanie.” Bethany pulled up her panties and shorts. “At least he’s willing to have sex with me.”

“Mark wanted us to wait until we got on birth control. He stopped you from doing it because he actually cared about you. That’s what a dream guy does.”

“Mark?” Joe asked as the pieces began to drop into place. “What the hell?”

Mark stepped into the room to put his arm around my shoulders. “So what? You just banged her best friend. At least I actually like your sister.”

“No, no, no, no,” Joe said as he whipped the condom off his quickly shrinking cock. “You don’t get to fuck my sister.”

“It’s none of your business,” I said as I pulled my t-shirt out of Bethany’s hands. “Go get your own damn shirt.”

Joe tossed his dirty shirt for Bethany to wear and stepped off the bed. “No wonder you were so pissed off at Dan. And you were pretty eager to get Steph home alone last weekend. You piece of shit!”

“Don’t call me a piece of shit when you were just doing the same thing,” Mark growled at Joe.

“You can’t just bang my sister!” Joe screamed.

“It’s not like that. I really like her.” His quiet confession made Joe blink.

The four of us stood looking at each other. Mark kept his arm around my shoulders as he stared Joe down. Joe sat back on the bed and rubbed his face.

“Mom is gonna shit,” Joe sighed.

“Mom better never find out or Mark will go to jail,” I said.

Mark squeezed me tight and met Joe’s surprised expression. “And so will you.”

Bethany got Joe’s shirt on and sat next to him on the bed. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I never meant to hurt you, Stephanie.”

“This hurt me, too,” Mark said. “I really liked you, Bee.”

Hearing him call Bethany her special name made my lip quiver. I didn’t trust myself to say anything so I bit my lip.

“I need to understand what’s going on,” Joe started. I answered his unasked question.

“Bethany used to be my girlfriend. We hooked up with Mark a couple of weeks ago. He’s been our secret boyfriend. It was nice, but it’s over now.”