Just a Pucking Kiss [COMPLETED]

Chapter 41 - Without her

JD

It's been over a week since we broke up and I can't stop thinking about her. I have the photo of her and the big guy by the elevator saved on my phone. Every time I feel myself give in and want to see her, I bring it up. I remind myself how little I meant to her.

"You actually saved the photo?" Wes says as he peers at my phone over my shoulder. "Why would you do that?"

"Now I know what she's like," I say and put my phone away. I return to the textbook that's open on the island while the guys are watching a game behind me. Somehow, I convinced myself I could study down here without getting distracted.

"Ok." Wes doesn't sound convinced as he grabs an iced tea from the fridge.

I frown. "How did you know I saved it?" I ask.

"It's gone now." Wes takes a drink.

"What do you mean, gone?"

He shrugs. "A bunch of photos and posts from that night are gone. Almost every photo with Morgan has disappeared."

I huff. "I can't believe she would sink that low. Does she really think trying to hide the evidence will do anything?"

"I'm not sure it's her. Lydia is convinced something is going on. That something happened and there's a big conspiracy, or cover up. According to her, all the photos from that night have been curated, and she can't figure out why. Plus, she wasn't able to get a hold of Morgan all week."

That doesn't make sense. The cat's already out of the bag. Why would anyone try to cover up that?

"Wait, what do you mean Lydia couldn't get a hold of Morgan?"

"Kat said she wasn't at the dorm and when Lydia asked about that night, Kat refused to talk about it. Said she promised not to say anything."

"It doesn't matter." I grab my book. "It doesn't fucking matter. I'm over her. I don't care."

Behind me, Ethan bursts out laughing. "Yeah right. You have it bad."

I spin around. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Ethan smirks at Liam, and they share a look as if they know something I don't.

"What?" I give them an exasperated sigh.

"It's just surprising that you're the last one to notice that you're in love."

"Fuck you." I grab my book. "I'm not in love and you can fuck right off."

They keep that stupid smirk on their faces.

"It's pretty obvious to everyone else. You can't stop talking about her."

"Because she's fucking annoying. It's called venting."

"Sure," Ethan says. "That's why you keep checking your phone every two minutes. And keep photos of her there."

"I do not. And other people contact me too. Maybe I'm hooking up with someone else. Did that ever occur to you?"

"Nah," Ethan turns back to the game. "You haven't even looked at anyone else since you got serious with Morgan."

"We were never serious." I'm almost yelling as I stomp past them and up the stairs. "And I'm not in fucking love."

They're still laughing when I slam my door. They know fucking nothing. I have no feelings for Morgan. I never did. She was good in bed, that's it. We had sex, and then she moved on without telling me. All I feel for her is anger that she tried to use me.

Days pass, and there's no sign of Morgan. Kat stops by the hockey house and acts as if it's all my fault. Brick doesn't seem to know what to think and Wes looks at me with pity.

It's a Wednesday when I've finally had enough.

I find myself knocking on their door, with my heart beating fast and palms sweaty.

The door opens and I hear the most beautiful sound. Morgan's laughter.

It stops dead when she sees me. Her entire body freezes mid-laughter and the joy fades from her eyes. It feels like a truck ran me over. I struggle to catch my breath, but I refuse to let it show. Instead, I put on an air of nonchalance that I don't feel.

Morgan steps back and turns away from me. She moves over to her dresser and picks something up.

"What are you doing here?" Kat asks.

"I came to check up on you." Fine, if Morgan wants to pretend, then we pretend. As far as I'm concerned, she doesn't exist.

"You saw me yesterday at the house." Kat is frowning.

"Yeah, well, mom texted. She wants a photo."

"Again?" Kat sounds annoyed, then she rolls her eyes. "Fine."

Instead of taking out my phone, I walk into the room. Morgan is still pretending to do something by her dresser. She picks items up and puts them down. My eyes drift to her nightstand. There are painkillers there and a knife stabs my chest. Why does she need painkillers?

And why can't she look at me? I want to know what's going on.

When I look at her, she grabs a book and sits down at her desk. Still pretending not to see me. Pretending I'm not there.

"JD," Kat says sharply, and I remember that we're not alone. "Take the photo already."

"Sure." I find my phone and stand next to her so I can snap the photo with Morgan in the background.

"Great," I say.

Kat looks from me to Morgan, then she grabs my arm and pulls me out of the room. Her fingers dig into my skin.

"What are you doing?" I complain when she closes the door.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She places her hands on her hips and glares at me.

"What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"How can you be so cruel? Don't you understand that she doesn't want you here?"

"She doesn't want to see me? Ha."

"What the hell?" Kat slaps my arm. "Are you stupid? After the way you treated her-"

"How was I supposed to treat her?"

Kat is about to answer when I hold up a hand. "No. I'm not doing this. There's nothing to talk about."

Kat's eyes narrow. "You can't come over anymore."

I'm about to protest when I see the fire in her eyes. Maybe Kat has never stood up for herself before, but she's standing up for her friend now.

"What if I want to check up on you?" I ask. Because I can't be banned from ever seeing her again. That's not an option.

"Then you text or call and we'll meet somewhere else."

"Is it really going to be like this? Just because we broke up?"

"It's because of the way you did it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, as if I'm the annoying one. "You could have handled it better. If you didn't want to be with her, that's fine. But did you really have to do it like that?"

Is she seriously complaining about the way I broke up with her after what Morgan did? Maybe Morgan has her brainwashed.

"I was a lot nicer than I had to be. Then I wanted to be. In fact, she deserved a lot worse."

Something breaks in Kat's eyes as she looks at me and shakes her head.

"I never thought my own brother could be such an asshole." She walks to the door. "You're banned from the dorm. Don't ever show up here again."

She goes inside and I want to shout after her. I want to tell her it's fine because I never want to see either of them ever again.

I never thought my sister would be defending someone who cheated. But maybe that's all part of this new person she's become. Her friends can cheat and it's the man's fault.

It doesn't matter. I'm better off without them.