Page 72 of Vicious Little Snakes

“Friend?” She tips the beveled tumbler back, taking big gulps before firing the glass down, shattering it on the concrete.

A loud crash sounds, and shards fly, eliciting some screams as people scatter. As well they should because Caroline just rang the fucking bell, and now that we’re here, there’s no turning back.

“Since when have you been my friend, Liam? Since we were twelve? Oh, but that didn’t count, though, right? We never happened then.” She motions around the room. “Or how about all the times we hid around this house together. Do you remember those since we weren’t friends then either?”

“Enough, Caroline. Just go sit down before you say something you’ll regret.”

She laughs harder before closing the distance between us, but her eyes are sad.

“Were we friends when you told me to meet you in this very room?” I look over her, unable to meet her gaze. Caroline’s palms rest against my tailored tuxedo shirt. “Or have you forgotten the plan to take my virginity as a trophy? Was that you acting like a decent friend, Liam?”

She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about. I reach for Caroline’s hand, wanting to put an end to the words spewing from her mouth, but she moves away, hurling her next sentence like knives.

“You don’t get to hold my hand. Ever again. You’ve ruined my party, my birthday—my goddamn life. Go away. I thought I made it clear years ago that we weren’t friends. Or do I need to arrange to fuck Kai in front of you again?”

My mouth drops open. Arrange? She did that shit on purpose. Any last shred of love I had for Caroline dies at this very moment. All these years, I thought she’d just made a choice. I’d sat around pining for a fucking monster while she delighted in my misery. Everything feels like a lie—it was all a lie.

My voice is low, so low I’m not sure she’ll even hear it, but I’ve never felt so much rage.

“I ruined?” I shake my head, staring at the ground. “I ruin your life? That’s a goddamn joke. You’ve made me miserable since we were fucking sixteen,” I growl, looking up. “The only thing you got right is that, yeah—I fucking hate you.”

She crosses her arms, eyes beginning to shine. “Good.”

I nod, stepping back, genuinely meaning what I say, “You’re fucking diabolical.”

“And you’re a coward.”

Donovan and Grey stand next to me as Kai tries to put his arm around Caroline, saying, “Care, people are watching. Think about the Debs. You don’t want the rumors.”

But we’re committed, no turning back now. I’m in a haze.

“I don’t care,” she cuts. “Everyone should know he’s a bastard.”

Every bit of anger I feel begins to bubble to the surface, and the more I try to hold it back, the more I can taste the curse in my throat.

“Fuck you,” I spit, stabbing a finger at her, making Donovan gasp. “I’ve been here. Through everything, right next to you. When Grey hated you—I was there. When you hated yourself—I was fucking there. Always. And you let me be even though I was just a fucking game you played for fun. You deserve nothing—least of all my loyalty.”

I can’t even finish, my voice dropping out as my hands lift to my head. My chest feels tight, like I can’t breathe. All her smiles, the times when I traveled over her face and got lost, the moments when I saw her so clear that it felt like I could never unsee that kind of beauty again—it was all a fucking lie.

Her face draws in. “What does that mean?”

I laugh, empty, disgusted at her. “I should’ve seen it. It was right in front of my face. You never said you were sorry—to me, for me in that goddamn cafeteria. You let my best friend think I betrayed him—sent him off the rails, with Laura on his fucking lap. You let people believe I’m a monster. That I would fuck my best friend’s girl, when of all people, you know I would never do that to Grey. Because. I. Haven’t. To. Kai.”

She blinks against my punctuated shouts.

“You fucking used me for your shitty revenge, like I was something to discard because you were jealous of Van. But I told you the day she came back that you were my girl—and I meant it. Never again. Because I finally get it, Caroline. You don’t fucking care. You never did. Caroline the cruel, long may she reign.”

Her hands are fisted by her side. Her mouth opens, then closes, but nothing comes. I turn, leaving, feeling like I’ve been punched in the gut. I need out of here and away from her, but Grey grabs my shoulder. “You gonna be okay, man?”

The way he asks, it makes me feel raw. He knows I’m not. We’ve never spoken about that summer, the glances I’ve been caught in. The fact that I love his sister. But he knows, and if he didn’t, he does now.

I hear Kai call Caroline’s name behind me right as hands smack my back. “Fuck you, Liam Brooks.Youbrokemyheart.”

My head swings over my shoulder, watching Kai lift her and step backward, but she keeps yelling at me, “And I won’t feel bad for you. Not when you cared more about your reputation than my feelings. You keep being the perfect son, friend, and Hillcrest manwhore. Because we both know you’re just a liar!”

I rush forward, pissed, as Grey’s hands on my chest stop me.

“Appearances? Lies? Are you kidding? You’re one to talk.”