Moonstruck at Midnight

Chapter 37 - In, Up, Twist, Out

I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND if Thomas was enjoying himself or merely suffering when he started asking questions. It was a masochistic hybrid of both states.

"This—is your Swedish neighbor, correct?" Thomas asked me. He said this as if he were referring to an object. I nodded. "So, you're into fucking celebrities now? Is that what this is about?"

What is he talking about? I grimaced in response to his allegations. William's neck was flushed, and he was holding a fist so hard that his knuckles were turning white. His nostrils flared, and his mouth was a thin, tight line.

He hates me.

"You better watch your mouth, kid," William said with a grim, menacing tone.

Thomas laughed a cynical laugh and gnawed at his bottom lip.

"What? I don't understand." I searched William's gaze for answers, but he wouldn't speak to me. His face reminded me of a boiling pot of water, crackling at the lid from the building pressure.

"William?" I urged.

"Guille, I—" he said softly, with that dreaded frown of his before being harshly cut off by Thomas.

"Oh, this is only getting better." Thomas clapped once and slipped his hands inside his pockets. William was about to say something.

Let him speak!

My heart fluttered, and my stomach warmed with the growing anxiety that craved to come up to the surface, but it couldn't find its way out with the medication flowing through my veins.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Thomas said, addressing William, who went silent again, his gaze fixed on me. It was so frustrating. I wished I could stand up and shake the words out of him.

"For someone who memorizes words for a living, you're not doing yourself justice," Thomas said, sauntering my way. "But don't worry, I'll help clear the air."

"Don't you fucking dare tell her," William warned.

Thomas sat on the bed beside me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Blondie here, you see, is a famous movie star, babe. Not that I expected you to know." He tucked my hair behind my ear. I flinched away from his touch. "Wouldn't that somehow feel ... beneath you?" His tone was bundled up in a sarcastic and condescending package left for me to unwrap on my own. "This is William fucking Sjöberg!"

Thomas burst into laughter—each gasp oozing with cynicism.

I shook his hands away from my shoulders because who the hell are you? I couldn't recognize him. This wasn't the guy I used to date. Thomas rose to his feet. William's face shifted from mad to dim and back. I couldn't read his expression. But whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"Now, this is what happens when you keep things from each other. Not a good way to start a relationship." Thomas kept going with a smug smile on his face.

"I'm sure you know all about that," William said. He took his time saying all. I closed my eyes for a quick second, trying to process the words being exchanged in front of me.

"Excuse me?" Thomas barked back at him. "Babe, come on. This is getting ridiculous. I'm sure we can talk things through. Just ask Lothario here to leave so we can fix this."

"Get. Out," I muttered.

"You heard her," Thomas said in a gravelly tone. I took a deep breath. Thomas was delusional or pretending to be, at the very least. Either way, my message was not getting through.

"Get the fuck out, Thomas," I said louder this time. The menace of my tear-flooded eyes was imminent. A blink was all it took for my face to become thoroughly drenched.