Page 21 of Dark Thirst (The Scandalous Novellas)

A fter Sean dropped me off this morning, I worked on my final projects all day long. I haven’t heard from him at all today and I’m getting worried. He was supposed to text when he got back home, but the day flew by, and by the time I realized the time, I had received nothing from him.

So I sent him a text before heading out for a bite to eat. Because Stephanie was hungover and sleeping all day, I appreciated the quiet time to get my work done.

Last night was… incredible. I’ve never felt so alive in my whole life.

I can’t believe that Sean put all of it together and made one of my biggest fantasies come true.

I felt bad this morning when we went out to eat and I was nervous to be seen with him, but I didn’t want anyone asking about him and not knowing what to say to them.

Telling people he’s my boyfriend didn’t seem right, and telling them he’s my cousin definitely would not happen. Especially since a couple of people saw us leaving the party together. Well, sort of.

As I sit down in the busy cafeteria with a plate of food, my phone chimes, and I check it.

Sean: Made it home. Talk tomorrow.

Huh. That’s odd. We usually text throughout the day unless he’s busy at work, and now he doesn’t seem to want to talk. I want to ask him what’s wrong, but I don’t want to seem needy just because we’ve had sex. Lots of it.

We’ve never even discussed what we were to one another, aside from being step-cousins. Whatever this is feels like being in limbo, and I don’t like it.

I’m not usually the type of girl that needs a lot of attention, but being with Sean feels different. He treats me like I’m his entire world, usually. And he gives me every bit of attention when we are together. So him not wanting to talk is strange.

As I eat, an idea pops into my head, and I make a mental note to check his accounts when I get back to my dorm room. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help myself. My gut tells me something is up, and I’m going to figure out what it is.

I’ve spent the last hour scouring through his accounts. He removed the video he posted of us at his apartment. Why would he do that? It was up just a few days ago. Now I’m trying to get access to his phone and check his messages and calls.

My hands shake when I see the flurry of calls and messages from his ex, Anna. He never mentioned he was still talking to her. Why would he be? What the fuck is going on? Is he seeing her again while secretly sleeping with me?

All I feel is rage and hurt. My eyes burn as I go through their messages and call logs. She called him after he dropped me off this morning, and I bet he raced home to go see her and that’s why he didn’t bother talking to me all day.

Fuck him! I shared my deepest secrets, desires, and fears and bared my soul to him just so he could go back to her.

But now I have her number, and I’m going to make her sorry she came back. Gaining access to her phone, I take control of her passwords and change them all to something she would never guess.

I also change the password to her email address so she can’t recover her information.

Her bank account is something I will have to be more careful about, but I plan on moving the money she has in there to a private account she won’t have access to.

I will cut her off from everything by the end of the weekend, and she won’t know what to do.

While going through the pictures she has uploaded on her phone, one catches my eye immediately.

It’s dark, but you can clearly make out two figures in a car, kissing.

She took a picture of Sean and me at the train station when he dropped me off.

Sudden realization hits me, and my stomach drops.

She’s probably blackmailing him into getting back together with her.

She’s sent a dozen messages to him since this afternoon, but none were replied to.

In her messages, she is happy to have him back and can’t wait to see him again.

But reading through them a second and third time, I finally realize the context, and why Sean never responded to her or to me.

He’s trying to keep me out of the line of fire by getting back together with her.

I need to up my game now and make sure that bitch doesn’t get what she wants. He’s mine. Whether he wants to be mine or not, I’ll set her entire world on fire before I let her hurt him.

SEAN

I ’ve been sick to my stomach since seeing Anna earlier, and I can’t bring myself to text Michelle either. Knowing what I have to do and wanting to do it are two different things. Hurting Michelle is not something I ever intended to do.

My feelings for her are so strong that it’s tearing me up inside just thinking of having to be with Anna again. If I don’t comply with what she wants, I know she will wreck our lives just out of spite.

I deleted the video of us I posted on my page and removed any trace of us being together I had.

Anna still has the picture of us kissing, but I’ll take care of that next time I see her.

She’s been texting me all day and I’ve ignored her so far.

I’m trying to think of what I will tell Michelle to break things off.

If I’m lucky, she doesn’t feel what I feel and it’ll be easy for her to end things.

I don’t know why I’m over-thinking things. My plan is to break things off with Michelle and get back together with Anna long enough that she won’t try to hurt Michelle because she’s jealous. I just hope that this will make things ok, even if it breaks me inside.

The thought occurs to tell Michelle what’s really happening, but I don’t want her to make it worse. She doesn’t deserve to be exposed like this to her family. I don’t give a shit about them or what they think, but I’m sure she does.

I’ve always been an outsider to her family, and I don’t want to alienate her from them for my own selfish reasons. I wish I could just take her, drive down to Florida, and start our lives where no one knows us. The dream of going back to the Gulf Coast someday always lives in my head.

In the middle of thinking about Michelle, she sends a text to check in.

I quickly respond to let her know I made it back home and that I would reach out tomorrow.

I still don’t know what to say, but I need to think quickly.

Between her and Anna, I need to sort things out before they get out of control and we all crash and burn.