Chapter 66 – Pretending You Are Mine Novel

The phone sl*ps out of my hand as my eyes remain fixed on the spot in front of me.

No.

There’s no f**king way.

She wouldn’t do that to me.

She cares about me. She knows the damage. She understands the trust issues I suffer. She wouldn’t use me as a piece in her article . . . right?

I read through it.

I approved it . . .

And then something sticks out in my head. The day she told me she turned it in, she said she made some changes. Were these the changes?

“Silas,” Holmes says softly. “What can we do, man?”

“I . . . I don’t f**king know,” I say as I lean back on the headboard. “I don’t f**king believe it.” Then immediately, I ask, “Who wrote that? What’s the name on the article?”

“It’s Ollie,” Pacey says. “Byline, Ollie Owens.”

“You told her about Sarah and what happened, right?” Posey asks.

“I did, but . . . she swore she wouldn’t say anything to anyone.” I shake my head, unable to comprehend this. “She wouldn’t do that . . . would she?”

My mind flies fast with ideas, with notions of what could have happened, but out of all of the scenarios, one thing keeps sticking out in my mind . . . her need to prove herself. Her need to do right by Roberts.

My l*ps roll together as my teeth grind down.

“Silas . . .” Posey asks.

“She wouldn’t f**king dare,” I say, rage taking over the shock.

“Tates, maybe we get you out of bed, showered, talk about this,” Pacey suggests, but I shake my head.

“No, I need you to leave. Right f**king now.” My fists clench at my side.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Holmes says.

“I said f**king leave,” I yell, startling all three of them.

Pacey nods his head toward the door, and Holmes follows him. Posey hangs back for a second and says, “I’m here for you, Silas. If you need me, you just ask.”

I don’t say a word, I just stare at my phone, rage beating through me. What if this was Sarah? What if she had something to do with it?

Or what if . . . the girl I thought I f**king loved has decided to f**k me over . . . just like Sarah?

I whip off my covers and go to the shower, my anger so heavy in my chest that I feel like I can’t breathe. I can only imagine what the comments section is saying, what other news sites are going to read the article and then toss their own spin on me. Because that’s what they do. One article comes out with the news, and the rest just circulate it with additional “facts.”

So now everyone will f**king know about my private life.

Everyone will know the kind of man I am.

How I can’t make a woman happy.

How I’m a f**king loser who a girl cheats on.

My biggest, darkest, most embarrassing part of my life is now out on display. I’ve been played for a fool again. She came after me, pushed me . . . all to get f**king ahead in her career.

I sl*p into the shower once the water is warm, and instead of washing my body off, I feel myself lean against the tile as I try to catch air into my lungs.

f**k, how could I be so stupid?

She’s used me from the very beginning.

From the very f**king beginning, and I chose to look past it.

I slide down to the bottom of the shower and push my hands through my hair as the water surrounds me. My eyes well with tears, and as I curl my fi**gers into fists, I feel my tears fall. Nothing feels worse than this. Ollie swore she’d never cheat on me, and perhaps that was true. But her promises didn’t extend to using me for her career, did it? No one had to know about what Sarah did, and their ignorance meant I was saved from the embarrassing scrutiny.

And my heart? It feels as though it’s been ripped right out of my chest.

I’ve given Ollie so much of myself, things Sarah never knew about. I was ready to see a new future. A happier future. But that was only possible through trust. And trust has once again been shattered.

Sarah might have bent me, but Ollie . . . she just f**king broke me.

**************************************

OLLIE

Ollie: Hey, is everything okay?

Ollie: Silas, I haven’t heard from you. Just checking in.

Ollie: When you get this, just text or call, or anything. I want to make sure you’re okay.

I stare down at my phone as I sit in class, waiting for it to start, my stomach churning. Something happened. The boys charged into his room, told him something, and now he’s not responding. I don’t know if it has to do with us, something with the team, or maybe with Hornsby.

I sent a text to Winnie as well, asking her if she’s heard anything, but she hasn’t responded either.

And now that it’s a few hours later with no answer to my phone calls or texts, I’m starting to freak out.

The door to the classroom opens, and I glance up just in time to catch Ross walking in, a look of almost disgust on his face.

“Surprised to see you here,” he says as he takes a seat.

Uh, what’s with the attitude?

“Why?” I ask. And then I realize maybe Ian told him something. “Wait, do you know something about the team? I was in the middle of . . . things with Silas when the boys busted into his room, and I haven’t heard from him since. He won’t answer my calls or my texts.”

“I’m not surprised,” Ross says with pursed l*ps.

What the actual hell.

He digs through his backpack, and I stop him and turn him to look at me. “What’s going on?”

“Ollie, you know I love you, and I’d do anything for you, but that article. Girl, are you really that desperate to imp**ss Roberts?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask. “Was it released?”

“Yeah, and it’s already trending.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe you wrote that about Silas after you promised him.”

“Wrote what?” I ask as I grab my phone and search for the article. When it comes up and I read the headline, I already know something is off. That’s not the headline I chose. My eyes scan over the text, rapidly floating through the text until it gets to one part.

One single paragraph that causes all the blood to drain from my face.

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “I . . . I didn’t write that.” My eyes scan through the paragraph over and over. “Ross, I didn’t. I would never do that.”

“It has your name on the article,” Ross says.

Tears fill my eyes as I look up at him, panic causing my throat to grow tight. “But I didn’t put that in there. I would never do that to Silas. I . . . I don’t understand.” My breath escapes me, and I panic for air, my breathing becoming labored.

“Shit,” Ross says as he scoops up our things and then takes me by the hand, right out of the classroom and into the hallway. “Deep breaths, Ollie.” He guides me to a corner and then sits us both down.

“I didn’t do it. I w-would n-never.” My teeth start to chatter, my body spasming with every second that goes by where this article is published.

“If you didn’t do it, then who did?” Ross asks.

I glance at him and say, “You’re . . . you’re the only one I accidentally told.”

His brow creases. “If you’re implying—”

“No, I’m not.” I shake my head. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me.” I p**ss my hand to my forehead and try to think. “I just don’t get it. That’s not how I turned in the article. Who changed it? Can someone change it? That’s not allowed, is it?”

“I have no idea,” Ross says. “Obviously, someone did change it. Who did you turn the article in to?”

“Roberts,” I say. I sent it directly to him. “I don’t get how he would know about the cheating. Silas hasn’t told anyone. And I don’t know who else would know about the article.”

“The only correlation is . . . you,” Ross says, stating the obvious.

“f**k,” I say as I pull out my phone and dial Silas’s number. I bring it up to my ear, and it rings three times before going to voicemail. When the phone beeps, I say, “Silas, it’s me. I really need to talk to you. Please call me.”

I hang up and then lean my head against the wall.

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