Far From Perfect

Chapter 35

Four beats.

Five beats.

I lose count of the seconds when the door finally cracks open after what feels like forever and I gasp, feeling like the wind has been knocked out of my sails.

Miranda!

Miranda stands there with a smug grin gracing her too pouty lips and a white sheet wrapped around her naked body, her hair a disheveled mess. I have to admit it's all really convincing for a second but not convincing enough. Any other day I would have believed she slept with Nate, but today is not that day. I know better. He was drunk when I walked out on him last night, so I know for a fact that there's no way Nate slept with her after I left him, but she can pretend all she wants. It's not my business.

"Cat got your tongue?" she tells me as she leans on the door frame, feeling like the cat who ate the canary, but all she comes off as is desperate.

"Where's Nate?" I ask, refusing to take the bait. I wasn't born yesterday. I know she's trying to get to me and I could let her but I won't. Not today. I don't have time or patience for her shit. Nate is no longer mine. It's not my business who he shares a bed with, but even so, I have a hard time believing he'd succumb to sleeping with Miranda when he made it clear to me he never had any interest in her.

"Sleeping," she says with an evil smirk. "After the night we had, he needs all the rest for later," she tells me with a wink and I'm not surprised.

"Why do you always have to be such a bitch?" Two can play at this pathetic game. I'm not letting her get to me.

"You're just jealous because he chose me."

"I'm not actually because we both know he would never choose you," I retort with a bit of snark and I can see in her eyes that my words wound her. Good! She deserves it for being a clingy bitch with no boundaries.

"That's not what I heard when he fucked me last night."

"You know, I have a hard time believing that," I say with a roll of my eyes.

"Think what you want," she says with a shrug.

"You're not fooling anyone. I came to see him last night and he was pretty much drunk when I left him. There's no way he could have done anything with you and that I am certain of."

"What do you know?"

"More than you think," I retort. "Have fun with him," I tell her and start to walk away when I hear a loud groan from inside the room. I stop mid-step when I hear it again. The fine hairs on my arms prickle in alarm. I snap my gaze towards Miranda and see her demeanor change instantly. She looks nervous. Too nervous.

My heart immediately starts pounding a mile a minute when I see the change in her demeanor. Part of me wants to walk away, but another part of me keeps me glued to my spot and refuses to let me take one more step because something inside me tells me that something is wrong. Really wrong.

Miranda starts to close the door but I stop her before she can and push my way into the room.

"Nate!" I yell and start making my way towards the bed in the dark.

Miranda jumps in front of me and stops me. "What do you think you're doing? You need to leave," she tells me.

"Get out of my way!" I warn her.

"No! You need to get out of here! Can't you hear he's resting?"

"He's not resting! He's groaning and it sounds like he's in pain!"

"You're just overreacting. He's fine!"

"No, he's not. You did something to him," I accuse her and she doesn't even deny it. Instead, she goes on a rant.