Roommates with Benefits [18+ only]

39. Sometimes it's your own people

LUKAS

When I came back into the living room, they were halfway through the first movie, but there was no sign of Tara. I shouldn't have left her alone with Sheila, that snake is way too good at aiming precisely for her weakest spots.

If only I'd told her what I wanted to say just a minute before the knock on the door. If I believed in signs, I'd say Sheila's timing was really odd. She appeared just as I was about to expose the truth about her to Tara.

I wanted to tell her Sheila was never her friend, that she befriended her due to a bet with some chicks. She was supposed to turn the Catholic girl into a wild one that broke every rule, but Sheila gave up almost immediately. Officially, because she liked the girl and wanted to be her friend. In truth, it was because she'd decided she could use her.

Tara may not want anything to do with them, but I know for a fact the Bakers have never had money problems. On the contrary, at the time Sheila's mother did. Then she married a rich guy and everything was solved, which is why Sheila progressively started brushing off Tara, even though the latter didn't really notice.

When I say I know Sheila Sanders better than most, it's not a lie. And it's not even because we spent a few months hooking up, it's simply because I've known her since kindergarten. I know her family, the history, I know things Tara could have never been privy to. And that's what makes me feel even worse.

I could have warned Tara back in the day, I could have pulled her away from a snake that ate away her self-confidence day by day, that kept her insecure and fragile because it suited her, that undermined her out of jealousy. I don't even think it was all about me, it was simply Sheila's self-entitlement, convincing her that whatever Tara had, it ought to be hers.

I know all this because I heard it from Sheila herself. Back then I thought my lack of action was justified by the fact that Tara didn't know me, she knew only of me, while Sheila was her best friend. I thought she'd never believe the word of a guy that's notoriously bad news against her best friend. But I should have tried. I had hoped they'd parted ways, yet out of the blue, there's the snake again.

I didn't even stop in the living room. I didn't care about the movies. If I wanted to watch them, it was because I thought it could be a chill night with Tara, then Sean got in the way. I don't like the guy, but if I forget his attempts at stealing my girl, he's still a better friend for her than Sheila has ever been. I headed straight for the kitchen, wondering whether Tara was still there, but no sign of her. Sheila was there, instead.

"Looking for your puppy?" She sneered. "I'm guessing now you're finally happy you got to her."

"What are you even doing here, Sheila?" I wondered. "You said you'd drop her after high school, she couldn't be useful to you anymore."

She brought a hand to her heart, feigning hurt. "What? How could I? T and I are like sisters."

I scoffed. "Please, you're not fooling me of all people. I know you, Sanders. I know the deeply fucked up little shit you are. And I may have been stupid enough to let you ensnare me back in the day, but not anymore." I took a step closer at each word, until I was standing just a couple of inches away from her. "You're gonna take that bony ass of yours out of our home right now." I pointed at the exit. "And you're gonna forget you ever knew a Tara Baker."

"Or what?" She inched closer, evidently not afraid of me, as she's never been. She'd have no reason to, she knows I wouldn't even dream of laying a hand on a woman.

But that doesn't mean I don't know how to play dirty. Clenching my jaw, I took a step even closer to her, enough to speak right in her face. "Do you really want me to remind you who I am, Sanders? Do you remember Billy, that kid that thought he could bully the new girl to assert his dominance? Do you remember what happened to him?"