Page 63 of Heartland

“Saw what?” Chastity whispers.

“Did you know Dylan lies?” She turns on Chastity. “Either he lied to you just now, or he lied to me for several weeks straight. Which is it, Dylan? Why don’t you clear it up right now? Because not even two weeks have passed since you told me you had no interest in sleeping with her. You said it so many times. You said—”

“Stop!” I holler. “You have something to say to me, you can do it privately.”

“Privately?” she asks, blinking back tears. “Should I bring the condoms and the lube?” She turns to Chastity again. “Congratulations on finally getting a turn on the mechanical bull. How did you manage it? Did you ask him for a little tutoring help, maybe?This algebra is so boring Dylan. Why don’t you teach me how to ride your dick. Did you learn it from a romcom? Did you hope he’d fall in love with you?”

Chastity’s eyes go red. She takes a step backward, as if to distance herself from Kaitlyn’s venom. And she can’t evenlookat me.

“Just don’t forget,” Kaitlyn spits. “He wanted mefirst. And I didn’t have to beg to see his dick.”

On that horrible note, she finally leaves, striding past Chastity and heading for her room. Her door slams closed with an earth-shattering crash a moment later.

Chastity looks as shell-shocked as I feel.

“Hey…” I don’t even know what to say next.Thanks for the towel. Shall we go out for breakfast?“I’m really sorry—”

But Chastity’s hand slices through the air with surprising violence. “Donotapologize right now.”

“Why the hell not?”

I’m clearly the dumbest man alive, therefore “I’m sorry” seems like a pretty good opener. I can’t believe I let myself get caught out naked in their bathroom. It’s marginally insensitive to my ex. But it’s a disaster for Chastity, who still has to live with that harpy.

“Because I don’t want to hear your opinion of what actually happened,” she says, her voice shaking. “Just…let’s forget everything.” She turns and hurries into her room.

“Wait!” I finish drying off as quickly as I can. My mind is a twisted knot of anxiety. I need to take her somewhere quiet and try to explain.

But when I leave the bathroom, Chastity meets me at the doorway to her room, her arms full of my clothes, backpack, and shoes. “Here. I think you should go.”

“Right now?”

“Right now,” she says stiffly.

“No way,” I say, my voice cracking with unhappiness. “We have to talk.”

“But I don’t want to,” she says. And then she steps into her room and shuts the door with a horrible click.

Leaving me standing there in the hall like an idiot. A moment later I hear a sob. And I honestly can’t tell which door it came from.

I lean my forehead against Chastity’s door and try to think. If I could talk to her, I’d say…

Yeah, okay. So I’m not even sure what.You’re not unattractive.And I’m not the slut that Kaitlyn claims I am.

Except that while the first thing is true, the second one is iffy.

“Chastity,” I whisper against the door.

But she doesn’t answer me.

After a few more minutes shivering in this hallway, I have no other choice than to throw on my clothes and go.

* * *

My head is pounding as I drive back to Spruce Street. When I get there, I reach for the backseat to grab the backpack that I tossed there.

That’s when I spot the last boxes of caramels on the seat. The ones that we had an appointment to drop off at nine thirty this morning. I pull out my phone. It’s 9:23.

Shit!