CASS

I woke up to the smell of her sheets and the sound of silence.

For a second, I didn’t remember where I was. Then it hit me—Kara’s place. Last night. Her lips. Her arms. Her body pressed against mine like it was the only place I belonged.

I should’ve felt something—peace, maybe. Relief. But all I felt was an ache I couldn’t name.

I rolled over and reached for my phone on the nightstand. Twenty missed calls.

All from Eli.

I stared at the screen for a long moment, then locked it and dropped it back on the bed. Not now.

I got up, moving quietly so I wouldn’t wake her, and wandered around her apartment, aimless. Searching for… I don’t know. Answers? A window out of the fog in my head?

That’s when I saw it.

On the shelf in her study. A framed photo.

Two girls—smiling, arms linked, same eyes. One was Kara. The other—

No. No way.

I froze.

I’d recognize that face anywhere. The other girl was her. The girl who used to show up outside my apartment. The girl I’d had to get a restraining order against.

The girl I never even slept with. Never even kissed but got clingy anyways.

We’d planned to grab a drink, once. I canceled. Something came up. That should’ve been the end of it.

Instead, she kept showing up—outside work, outside my gym. Said she was just “trying to make up for our missed date.” I told her no. Firmly. Nicely, at first. Then less so. But she wouldn’t stop. Until the cops got involved.

And now, I’d just slept with her sister?

I felt sick.

Was this some twisted plan they’d cooked up? Was her sister going to show up next, smiling like this was some long con?

I gripped the frame so hard I thought the glass might crack.

I stormed back into the bedroom.

“Did you two plan this together?” I demanded.

Kara stirred, groggy, blinking at me. “Cass?” she said, voice scratchy. “What—?”

“This is not what—” she started to sit up, but I cut her off.

“You were at the pub that day,” I said, voice rising. “You were watching me. You found a way to get close to my best friend so you could get to me.”

Her eyes widened.

“I’ll give you this,” I said, bitter. “Much smarter than your psycho sister.”

That’s when she slapped me.

Hard.

The sound cracked through the air like a gunshot.

I staggered back, stunned, one hand to my cheek.

Kara’s chest heaved. Her eyes shone with fury—and something else. Grief.

“My psycho sister,” she said, shaking, “is dead. Because of you.”

Everything went still.

I opened my mouth. Closed it.

Dead?

I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

Kara didn’t say anything else. She just stood there, arms at her sides, like she was holding herself up by sheer will.

And me?

I bent down, picked my clothes up off the floor one piece at a time, dressed in silence.

I didn’t apologize.

Didn’t explain.

Didn’t look back.

I walked out.

The morning air hit like a slap to the face. I stood on the sidewalk for a second, trying to steady myself.

Then, finally, I called Eli back.

He picked up on the first ring.

“We need to talk,” he said.

And something in his voice told me this mess wasn’t even close to being over.