36

After getting a call from one of the last people she wanted to hear from, Olivia wished she could have stormed into Uncommon Grounds instead of having to feign a calm she didn’t feel. But she’d been subjected to enough pitying stares and wide eyes since she’d arrived on campus. She didn’t need to draw any more unwanted attention.

Thankfully, most people hadn’t taken notice of her or hadn’t seemed to know about what had unfolded at the dedication ceremony. Still, there were enough lingering looks to make Olivia’s shoulders tense every time she walked into a lecture hall.

She’d expected the pitying stares and the hissed whispers, but that didn’t mean they didn’t bother her. She just wanted to get back to her studies and be left alone. So, Olivia walked into the coffee shop in the Leavey Center without any stomping feet or furious scowls.

Getting a call from Amy hadn’t left her in the best of moods. Sobbing apologies were all fine and well, but Olivia hadn’t wanted or needed them from her former best friend. Nothing could fix what Amy had broken. Nothing could undo the damage she’d done, and nothing could make her any less of a backstabbing bitch who’d slept with Olivia’s boyfriend.

It didn’t matter that Olivia had hated Drew by the end. Amy hadn’t known that, and she’d still chosen to fuck him who knew how many times.

Amy had sounded truly remorseful in between crying fits, but Olivia had ended the call by telling the woman that she should kindly fuck off and lose her number. It wasn’t exactly the long and fiery speech she’d envisioned, but hopefully, she’d gotten her message across.

Thankfully, Olivia’s temper had cooled somewhat after she’d ordered her drink from the counter. She took a deep breath in while she waited for her coffee. And it helped. For about two seconds.

When she looked to the side to see if there was a free table, her eyes landed on a sight that had her blood boiling again.

The brunette who’d started the petition to get Olivia kicked out of Georgetown stood from her table and told her friends she’d be right back before heading straight for Olivia.

It seemed the universe was having mountains of fun throwing the women Drew had cheated on her with in Olivia’s face. And this time, the woman in question couldn’t be ignored for the first dozen or so calls or be hung up on.

No, this woman would have to be dealt with the old-fashioned way: in person.

“Hi,” the brunette said. This time, she looked nervous. There was none of the indignance and brazenness from the last time she’d approached Olivia.

“Yes?” Olivia replied, her voice clipped.

The brunette who’d confidently told Olivia that she’d seen Drew behind her back shuffled on her feet and fidgeted with the strings on her hoodie. “I know you probably don’t want to hear it, but I’m so sorry,” she said. “About everything.”

“You mean about you having sex with my boyfriend?” Olivia asked, her eyes moving to the side when she heard a choked gasp from the guy making her coffee.

He looked between the two women with flared eyes but quickly went back to work after meeting Olivia’s gaze.

“Yes,” the brunette replied with a cough. “That, but also for making that petition and for what I said to you in the library. I promise I had no idea what kind of person he was.”

Olivia arched a brow. “I figured.” The woman wouldn’t have slept with him if she’d known what a piece of shit he really was. “Drew was always good at charming people.”

“Yeah,” the woman murmured, looking down at her feet.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. She had no sympathy for anyone who slept with people they knew were in a relationship, but this girl hadn’t ever made her any promises. Drew was the one who’d betrayed her. Not this woman.

What she’d done was shitty, but Olivia wasn’t going to waste her energy on holding a grudge against her.

“You know,” she said, knowing she should have at least attempted to keep her voice down for the next part but letting her voice ring out instead. She wasn’t a saint, after all. “I actually don’t give a fuck that you slept with him.”

The brunette’s eyes widened, and her face turned a satisfying shade of pink. “What?” she spluttered, her gaze darting around the room.

At least a few people had heard Olivia, including the woman’s friends, and they were now staring at them slack-jawed.

“At least when he was sleeping with you and the others, he was getting his fix elsewhere,” Olivia explained, smiling at the barista who placed her coffee on the counter she was leaning her hip against. She picked up the coffee cup and turned her attention back to the other woman. “You did me a favor, really.”

“I did?” the woman asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Yep,” Olivia replied with a small smile. “When he was fucking you, it meant he wasn’t fucking me, so thank you.”

The brunette blinked at her. “You’re welcome?” she said, the words coming out as a question.

Olivia’s lips twitched, and she had to bite back a laugh. “Next time, I suggest you pick someone who doesn’t have a girlfriend, though,” she told the woman, still refusing to whisper. “Most women won’t thank you for having sex with their boyfriends.”

The woman gulped and nodded, her blush deepening. “Right.”

“Good talk,” Olivia said, lifting her coffee cup like she was making a toast. “Glad we got that all sorted out.”

“Agreed,” the woman stammered, looking completely thrown. “And again, I’m really sorry.”

Olivia waved off her apology. “It’s not like you helped get me kicked out of school or anything,” she joked before widening her eyes as though only then coming to a realization. “Oh, wait. You kind of did.”

The brunette bit her lip, looking both guilty and mortified.

“But it’s okay,” Olivia said. “I’m back, so it all worked out in the end.”

“Right,” the brunette managed to choke out.

“Anyway, it was nice chatting with you, but I need to catch up on all the work I’ve missed,” Olivia told her, ready for the conversation to be over.

The brunette nodded frantically and took a step back. “Of course, sorry.” She spun around and returned to her table, nearly tripping over her own feet.

Olivia lifted her coffee cup to her mouth and hid her grin behind it. It had been oddly satisfying to accept the woman’s apology while still managing to call her out on all the crap she’d done. It turned out that forgiveness didn’t have to be so hard if you just did it the right way.

Olivia had planned on working in the coffee shop, but that didn’t seem like a good idea anymore after the scene she’d caused. She turned around, intending to walk out the door with her head held high. Instead, she came face to face with Chris and came to an ungraceful stop.

A cute redhead was standing next to him, and they were both looking at Olivia with lifted eyebrows. They must have arrived in the middle of her not-so-gracious accepting of the brunette’s apology.

Chris lightly bumped his shoulder into the redhead’s. “Why don’t you get us a table? I’ll just be a minute.”

“Sure,” she replied, looking between him and Olivia curiously before making herself scarce.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek and lifted a brow at Chris in question.

“You handled that well,” Chris said, nodding his head in the direction of the brunette’s table.

“She had it coming,” Olivia huffed.

“I know,” Chris said, letting her know he wasn’t judging her for torturing the woman a bit. “Can we talk?” he asked, taking a step closer.

Olivia pinched her lips together and looked to the side. “What do you want, Chris?”

“I just wanted to ask how you’re doing,” he said.

Olivia’s gaze flew back to him. She swallowed. “I’m okay,” she replied, surprised that he cared to ask.

He nodded slowly, his eyes searching her face. “I’m glad you’re back.”

He lifted his hand toward her before dropping it back to his side and tucking it into the front pocket of his jeans like he didn’t trust himself not to reach out again.

“I missed you,” he said after a too-long beat of silence.

“You hated me,” Olivia reminded him, not letting herself feel the warmth in her chest for more than a second before promptly smothering it with anger. “You definitely didn’t miss me.”

Chris swallowed. “I did,” he argued gently. “Even then, I missed you.”

Olivia wanted so badly to believe him, but she wouldn’t let herself fall into the trap of hoping. Not again.

“You should get back to your friend ,” she told him, reminding both of them that he’d arrived there with another woman.

Chris’s brows pinched together, and he shook his head. “We have a group project,” he explained. “We’re just here to work.”

Olivia didn’t let her shoulders slump in relief, but the tightness in her chest eased. She wished she didn’t care about Chris’s romantic life. It would have been so much simpler if she could have torn out her feelings for him the way he’d seemingly been able to after he’d seen the video.

But Olivia knew all too well how hard it was to cut off your feelings for someone, even when they hurt you beyond repair. Toward the end, she’d only stayed with Drew out of fear, but there was a time when his apologies had been startlingly effective in ensuring Olivia’s feelings for him didn’t disappear.

“Well, you better get to it,” she said with a strained smile.

“Liv—”

“I need to go,” she said, cutting him off before he could weaken her defenses any further. She stepped around him. “Enjoy your study date,” she added over her shoulder before walking out the door.

Even if it wasn’t a date, they both knew his history. He would probably be in the bathroom fucking the redhead within an hour. It was just what Chris did.

Olivia had fooled herself into believing he would ever be happy with just one woman. Worse, she’d fooled herself into believing the woman he’d choose to settle down with could ever be her.

If he ever did want to try a relationship again, it would be with someone who didn’t have a more attractive sister and who he’d never accused of murder.

Chris would probably work his way through the rest of the female population at Georgetown before he settled down, though. It was another reason for Olivia to transfer. She couldn’t trust Chris with her heart again, but she wouldn’t be able to stand seeing him moving on with other women.

It would crush her. Because despite everything, Olivia still loved him.