Gold (All that Glitters #2)(112)

Bryna’s mouth dropped open. “His what?” She looked at Eric in confusion. What the hell is she talking about?

“Audrey,” Eric said in warning, “that’s enough.”

“What is she talking about, Eric?” Bryna asked.

“It’s not enough. I hate to see you like this.” The tone of Audrey’s voice changed when she looked up at him. She sounded soothing, like she wanted to reach out and touch him. “You shouldn’t have to debase yourself by dating her. You told me yourself that you would never be interested in a slut like her. You said she was the worst kind of human imaginable.”

“You said that?” Bryna asked. Her addled mind couldn’t keep up with everything that was going on.

Did Eric really say those things about me? And what the f*ck is Audrey talking about? A trust fund? He’s from Dallas. He wants to be a football coach. How the hell would he have that kind of money?

“No, I did not say that.”

“Now, you’re lying?” Audrey asked in disgust. “You’ve really lowered your standards.”

“You jealous bitch,” Bryna spat.

“Fuck off, Audrey. You’re proving me right for every reason that I left you in the first place,” he said.

Then, he pushed Bryna through the crowd without a backward glance. They made it out the door and to his car before she blew up.

“What the f*ck was all that about, Eric?”

He sighed and sank into the driver’s seat. “I don’t know. I never expected her to show up and try to sabotage me.”

“She’s a f*cking twat.”

“That…is true,” Eric agreed.

“Let’s go back to your place.” Bryna crossed her arms and sank back into the seat. She had a lot to process. She didn’t know what to make of anything Audrey had said. Had she acted like a major bitch because I was now dating her ex-boyfriend? Is anything she had said actually true?

Eric drove back to his house and parked the Jeep. Bryna got out without a word, and he followed her inside. She felt ridiculous, having this conversation in a slutty devil’s costume, but things needed to be said now.

“So…did you say all those things?”

“No.”

“You never called me a slut or the worst human imaginable?”

Eric sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. “Okay. Yes, I said those things, but I didn’t know you then. Once I got to know you, I realized you were nothing like that person.”

“God,” Bryna grumbled. She sat down on the couch and pushed her hands up into her hair. “I’m drunk, and it’s Halloween. I don’t want to be doing this right now.”

“I’m sorry.” Eric sank to his knees before her. He pulled her hands away from her face and stared deep into her eyes. “If I could take back the things I said about you and all the other cheerleaders, then I would. It was a total dick move.”

“I know, I know,” she breathed. “We were both under the illusion that we were different people at the time.”

“Exactly.” He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“But I don’t get the other stuff. What the f*ck is with Audrey? What was she saying about a trust fund?” she asked in confusion.

“That…is complicated.”

“Well, we have all night.”

He nodded and took a seat next to her. “I met Audrey my freshman year and thought she was perfect. I trusted her implicitly from the start. When I blew my knee out, she was there for me every single day. She went to therapy with me. She encouraged me and helped me heal. I’m not sure I would be as strong as I am without her.”

Bryna nodded. “Then, I guess…we’re all in her debt.”

“She would want you to think that. She sure holds that over my head. But she didn’t do it for me. It took me a long time to realize that. Even after I broke up with her, I still went back to her, thinking maybe I was wrong, until she would do something again that made me realize that I was right.”

“Why did she do it?”

“She did it because she wanted a football player. When I decided I wasn’t going to risk playing anymore, she freaked the f*ck out.” His voice was soft, as if recalling a recent injury. “She went on a rampage and talked to the coaches, the therapists, my parents—I mean, everyone—begging them to convince me otherwise. She wanted to get her paycheck at the end of all this, and when I refused to give it to her, she turned into a lunatic.”

Bryna’s mouth opened and then closed. On some level, she could see Stacia doing the same thing. “Maybe she just cared about you?”

“No. She cared about herself.”

“Then, why did you keep sleeping with her?” she asked.

“Guilt mostly.” He sighed and looked sad. “In my head, I knew that she was using me. I mean…I knew what she wanted from me at least. But she was there for me. She took care of me. She helped me so much. It’s hard to erase someone like that from your life, especially with a constant reminder from her.”

“I think that makes sense. It’s hard to let go of your past. That is something I’m very aware of.”

He smiled forlornly. “I couldn’t really escape it, so I would say horrible things about people who were after someone for what they had, and I thought you were no different. But when I got to know you over Christmas last year, things changed. Everything changed.” He reached out and stroked her cheek. “You changed my world.”