Fighting for Love (Second Chances #4)(60)
She snatched the picture out of my hand with a scowl on her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This picture doesn’t mean shit.”
Hayley brushed right past me and started down the steps, but I followed close on her heels until we got to the bottom floor. “Fine, if you don’t want to admit to this picture, why don’t you tell me about the time you threw a vase at Matt’s head. I’d like to know how you’re going to lie your way out of that one. Or better yet, what did I ever do to you for you to turn on me like this? You were like family to me, Hayley.”
Mouth wide, she gasped and turned to face me. “What did Matt tell you? He’s the one who likes to lie. I bet he said I was the one who came onto him, didn’t he?”
“Really?” I scoffed. “And you’re going to tell me that you didn’t? You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s true,” she cried, wiping her dry eyes. “He tried to attack me.” Hayley was a dancer, not an actress, and her pity party attempt to thwart me wasn’t getting her anywhere. It was pathetic, and I could see right through it.
Grabbing her by her shirt, I slammed her into the nearest wall as hard as I could, knocking the breath out of her. “Enough of the lies,” I yelled in her face. About that time, Matt and Josh both rushed in through the front door.
“Tell me why?” I shouted.
Almost instantly, her whole mood changed and her gaze narrowed, honing in on me with nothing but hate. Where was the Hayley I thought I knew?
“Okay, Miss Perfect, you want the truth? Well, here it is. I had my eye on Matt for the past couple of years and no, I didn’t know at the time of your history together. We partied with the same crowds, and one night I figured it was time to make a move. Never have I been turned down by a man before, but he had the audacity to look at me like I was a piece of trash on the side of the road.”
“That’s probably because you ripped off all your clothes and basically tried to force yourself on him,” I snapped in disgust.
She gasped. “He told you that?”
“He told me everything.”
Rolling her eyes, she scoffed and continued, “Whatever, he’s not worth it anyway.”
“You still didn’t answer my question. How did you know about mine and Matt’s past? Lexi promised she didn’t say anything to you.”
She stared at me for a few seconds, and her lips spread out in a mischievous smile. “No, my sister didn’t say a word since she’s completely loyal to you no matter how much I prodded. It was your mother, Shelby. She was the one who told me about Matt when I ate lunch with her and my mother.”
You have got to be kidding me. I knew my mother loved to spend time with Janet, Lexi and Hayley’s mother, but I never thought she would bring up Matt after all this time.
“When?” I asked incredulously. “When did you talk to my mother?”
“Oh, you know how our mothers are. They like to meet a couple of times a month for lunch. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you she saw me; although, it figures since no one ever seems to notice me. Anyway, of course, you were the topic of conversation. Since your mother thought I already knew everything about you because we’re such great friends, she didn’t have a problem with telling me a few things. Like, take for instance, all about your high school sweetheart, Matt Reynolds.”
“At first, I was thinking there was no way she could be talking about the same Matt Reynolds, but when I asked if he was the MMA fighter, she confirmed it. Then again, you’re Shelby Dawson … you get everything you want,” she sneered.
Exasperated, I scoffed and shook my head. It made me sick how much she reminded me of Kyle. It was amazing how selfishness and greed could warp someone’s mind to turn on those that care for them.
“I don’t get everything I want,” I said, raising my voice with each word. “I bust my ass and work hard for the things I have. I get them the right way … the honest way.”
“Yeah, well, you got the perfect job earning more money than I could ever dream of making, a sexy and famous boyfriend, and a family that supports you know matter what you do. For ten years I’ve watched my sister idolize you and follow along in your footsteps, practically living in your shadow. Our own mother talks about you as if you were the daughter she never had and always wanted. I can’t even be around her without her asking about you and fawning all over you. All I heard after I graduated high school was why couldn’t I be more like Shelby, why don’t I do this like Shelby. I’m sick of being second best.”
By the time she finished speaking, her chest was heaving up and down with angry, ragged breaths, and the gorgeous crystal blue eyes of hers that I loved so much were now emotionless and bitter. I barely recognized her.
Slowly releasing her shirt from my grasp, I stepped back and took in a calming breath, hoping it would help me think of the right things to say. I never knew she felt that way, but whatever she felt was not my fault. That was her own insecurities and jealousies.
“Hayley,” I began more smoothly, keeping my voice low and hushed, “I hate you feel that way. I never once wanted or thought Lexi followed me around like that, because honestly, I enjoy walking around in her footsteps. She’s shown me so much and became more than just a friend; she’s my family. As far as your mother’s concerned, I know she’s proud of you and that she loves you.”