WHEN HE CHOOSE HER

Chapter 2: Caught In the Act

Grace POV

Ryan's head jerked around, his eyes growing wide with horror. For an instant, everything froze. My chest tightened, refusing air, and the entire space seemed to shift at an angle.

"Grace…" Bryan stuttered, still physically joined with Emma. "This isn't…"

"What does it look like?" I completed the sentence, my tone remarkably calm considering the turmoil raging within me. "Because it looks like you're screwing my friend on her birthday while I'm downstairs waiting for a drink that's never arriving."

Emma rotated her head, locking eyes with me without a trace of embarrassment. She didn't even attempt to fix her dress; she simply propped her forearms on the vanity and exhaled as though I'd disrupted a corporate presentation.

"Oh, Olivia," she said, her tone oozing with patronization. "Did you honestly believe a man like Bryan could be content with only you?"

Ryan finally separated from her, scrambling to yank up his trousers. "Baby, please, this is merely... a thing. It's meaningless."

"A thing?" I echoed, heat flooding my face. "How long has this 'thing' been going on?"

Before either could respond, I detected footsteps approaching from behind.

"Grace? Did you locate…" Sophia's voice died as she materialized beside me, absorbing the scene. "Holy f*****g shit."

Bryan's complexion drained further. "This isn't what…"

"If you utter 'this isn't what it looks like' one more time, I swear to God I'll castrate you with my bare hands," Sophia hissed, her arm coiling protectively around my shoulders.

Emma stood upright, finally smoothing down her dress with unhurried motions. She swept her hair back and had the nerve to smirk. "Bryan and I have an arrangement. It's purely physical. Amazing physical chemistry, but still just physical."

"An arrangement?" I laughed, the sound harsh and alien to my own hearing. "And when precisely were you intending to inform me about this arrangement? After you infected me with chlamydia, or earlier?"

"Don't be theatrical," Bryan said, straightening his shirt. "We've been cautious."

"Oh, cautious! Well, that resolves everything then!" I flung my hands up. "You've been cautiously sleeping with my friend behind my back. Such thoughtfulness!"

Emma reclined against the vanity folding her arms. "We're all grown-ups here. Monogamy is so... restrictive, wouldn't you agree?"

Sophia moved forward. "The only restrictive thing here is your moral compass, you treacherous bitch."

"Watch it," Emma cautioned, her eyes tightening.

"Or what? You'll seduce my boyfriend as well? Get in line." Sophia pivoted to Bryan. "And you. You miserable excuse for a man. Four years? Four f*****g years of her existence squandered on you?"

Bryan fumbled with his belt buckle. "Grace, baby, please. We can talk about this. It's just s*x. It doesn't change anything between us."

"You care about me so much that you bought me this dress." I motioned at what I was wearing. "So I could parade around downstairs like some clueless i***t for your buddies while you're up here balls-deep in Sophia?"

"The dress looks really good on you," he said, his voice pathetic.

I just stared. "That's your play right now? Compliments?"

"I'm trying to…"

"No. I'm finished listening to whatever bullshit you're trying to sell me." I started to walk out, then stopped. "Four years, Bryan. Four years of me rearranging everything for you. Believing every lie. Was any of it true?"

He moved closer. "Of course it was true. I love you, Grace."

"Save it," I snapped. "If that's what you call love, I want absolutely nothing to do with it."

Emma let out this exaggerated sigh. "Can we finish this later? I have guests waiting for me downstairs."

"You've got one less guest now," I said, already turning. "Happy birthday, by the way. You two are perfect for each other."

Sophia shot them both one last withering look before trailing after me. We moved down the hallway, my legs operating on autopilot despite feeling like they might give out any second.

"I've got you," Sophia murmured, keeping her arm locked around me as we took the stairs.

The party raged on below, completely unaware of the disaster that had just exploded upstairs. The music felt deafening now, the laughter grating.

We shoved our way through bodies toward the entrance. Someone yelled my name, but I kept going, focused only on getting out.

The night air slapped my face when we finally made it outside, and that's when I felt myself trembling.

We'd barely made it to the sidewalk when I heard the door bang open behind us. I didn't turn around.

"Grace!" Bryan's voice. "Wait!"

Sophia whirled around, planting herself between us like a human barrier. "Go back to your birthday girl, asshole."

"This is between Grace and me," he said, but he wasn't following us.

"There is no 'Grace and you' anymore," I shouted back without stopping. "We're finished."

His reply got swallowed by distance as we turned the corner, the party noise dissolving behind us.

Once we were out of view, everything inside me collapsed. I stopped moving, gasping for air.

"I can't believe... I can't..." My hand flew to my mouth.

"I know, honey. I know." Sophia wrapped me in her arms. "Let it out."

"Four years," I choked out against her shoulder. "Four f*****g years."

She ran her fingers through my hair. "I'm so sorry, Grace."

I stepped back, dragging my hands across my face. Tears and mascara everywhere. "You knew. Didn't you? You f*****g knew about them."

Sophia's face twisted. "I wasn't... I mean, I wasn't sure."

"What do you mean you weren't sure? Either you knew or you didn't!"

She pulled out her phone, wouldn't look at me. "Last month. Barton's Café. I saw them together. They fed me some bullshit about running into each other randomly, but..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "The way they were sitting. How his hand kept finding reasons to touch her. I just…I couldn't say anything without being completely sure. What if I was wrong? What if I ruined everything over nothing?"

"Well." My laugh came out broken. "Turns out you weren't wrong."

"f**k. Let me call a cab." She was already swiping through her phone. "Jack has my car."

I hugged myself tight. That goddamn dress. Bryan's choice. It made me feel sexy a few hours ago. Now I just felt exposed and stupid. Like everyone could see what an i***t I'd been.

"No cabs." Sophia cursed under her breath. "We can walk for now. I'll keep trying. Maybe Jake can swing by."

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." Honestly? I'd walk until my feet bled if it meant putting distance between me and that house. "I'd walk to f*****g Tijuana right now. I don't even care."

My heels made these sharp little clicks on the sidewalk. Loud in the quiet. These massive houses around us, all set way back, but barely any streetlights. Typical rich people neighborhoods, all show no substance.

A car engine growled somewhere close. Then this beat-up convertible rolled up next to us, moving slowly. Four drunk idiots crammed in there. You could smell the alcohol from the sidewalk. The driver hung halfway out his window, eyes crawling all over me. Stopped right at my t**s.

"Heyyy beautiful, where are you going?" Gold tooth flashing when he smiled. It made my skin crawl. "Plenty of space right here, baby. You can sit on my lap."

The other three assholes started howling. One of them waved a bottle around. "Party time! Come party!"

"Go to hell," Sophia spat, pulling me against her side.

"Oooh, this one's got an attitude!" The driver laughed, shutting the engine. "I f*****g love attitude."

This thick-necked creep in the back, covered in the worst tribal tattoos I'd ever seen, practically fell out of the car. He tumbled toward us, pointing right at Sophia.

"Big mouth on you, blondie. I wonder what else you're good at."

Then he just grabbed her. Fistful of hair, yanked her head back hard. Sophia screamed, nails digging into his arm.

Everything went white-hot in my head. "Get your f*****g hands off her!"

I wasn't thinking. I just swung my purse as hard as I could. It hit him right in the temple.

He wobbled but didn't let go. Turned to look at me, still gripping Sophia's hair. His eyes dropped straight to my chest, stayed there. "Oh, this one wants to play?" That disgusting smile spread across his face. "Damn. Look at those. Bet they'd look even better bouncing."