Playing the Playboys

Chapter 26: The Candy

I torture you
Take my hand through the flames
I torture you
I'm just a sucker for pain

"Explain yourself." Wyatt demanded, giving me a grave look.

I gulped as I looked at the three of them, who all had icy exteriors.

"I don't know what to say..." I trailed off, fidgeting with my fingers. "I-I didn't expect him to like me."

I should really consider being an actress.

"Bitch, he didn't just like you," Jordan made a face. "He fell for you."

Nico nodded in agreement. "For the first time in a long time."

I took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry I hurt him. But is it really my fault that he fell for me, that I don't reciprocate his feelings? He's a great guy, he'll find someone else to replace me soon enough."

"Still, you kinda invested in that relationship," Jordan argued. "If you didn't like him, why did you spend all that time with him?"

"And dude, you know you're irreplaceable, right?" Wyatt added, a grin spreading across his face. "No other girl could have introduced us to girls we like now."

"I second that." Nico nodded in agreement, fist-bumping Wyatt.

That made my lips quirk into a smile.

"I spent time with him because I wanted to be his friend." I explained shortly, not wanting to say more words in case I said something wrong. "It was never my intention to hurt him."

Lies. More lies.

Jordan narrowed his eyes at me for a while, but after staring at him right back, he softened.

"Sorry, Kath. It's just that he hasn't been himself lately." He sighed.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "He looked okay the last time I saw him."

Nico snorted. "One thing you need to know about Ivan is that he's great at hiding what he feels."

Wyatt nodded solemnly. "Ivan tends to hide his feelings in movie quotes and jokes, but if you look close enough, you'd see he's not okay."

"He's joking way more times than he used to, and when he's not joking, he's sulking and having an existential crisis." Nico explained more, making me feel guiltier than I already was.

But there was this small voice in the back of my mind saying that he deserved it, that I shouldn't feel sorry for him.

Jordan lowered his eyes sadly. "And worst of all, he's going back to his old ways."

I raised an eyebrow. "Old ways?"

Before they could explain further, the car stopped. I glanced around to figure out that they had brought me home.

"That's a question we're going to have to answer next time," Jordan smiled apologetically. "See you around, Kath."

He let me out of the car with Nico and Wyatt saying goodbye as well. They drove away without looking back.

I entered my house in thought. In all my years knowing Ivan, I didn't have the slightest clue as to what his old ways were. To me, he was who he always used to be: a player.

When I got up in my room, I checked my phone. Sam left me a dozen of messages, telling me that her place wasn't available for Aly's halloween party in the last minute.

Since Aly loved Halloween and big parties, we planned to throw her one. We wanted her to drink until her livers fall out since that was what she wanted anyway.