I should have known.

Scratch that. I did know. I heard them all laughing at me but I ignored it because Max flashed me a wink and smile with those big, dumb, green eyes.

I knew. They didn’t want to talk to me. They didn’t want me at all. They did it to entertain Sally Sweet. How could I have been that stupid? And why are they still with me? Is this some advanced form of torment? Fuck it. I don’t want to know. I had the chance to step off the train track. Instead, I waited until the speeding locomotive careened into me and I have the audacity to be surprised.

It’s over.

I ignore the knocking on my door. It grows louder and faster. If I sit here on my couch without making any noise, eventually they’ll leave me alone.

“Phoebe!”

I pull my blanket over my head. More knocking. More ignoring as the sick takes over my stomach.

“Pheebs, we know you’re in there,” Thad says, his voice muffled. “We could see your light on outside.”

I sit up. Dammit. Still not a compelling enough reason to make myself known yet.

“Phoebe, come on. What did we do?”

A spark of rage buried deep inside spreads to my brain.

What did they do?

What did they do?

I bolt off the couch and beeline to the door, throwing it open so fast they both leap back in surprise. “What did you do?” I repeat.

Max glances at Thad in confusion. “Yeah,” he says. “You just left without saying a word.”

“And you didn’t answer your phone,” Thad adds. “Scared the hell out of us.”

“What happened?”

“Gee, I don’t know…” I force the lump in my throat down. I’m not ready to break yet. “I just gave you the old Belle and Switch, whatever the hell that is.” Their faces fall. “Does that ring a Belle? Seems clear as a Belle to me. And… I’m too fucking angry to think of more Belle puns right now.”

“Who told you about that?” Thad asks.

“Not you and that’s more or less the point.”

Max creases his brow. “Phoebe, let us explain—”

“Explain? You’re gonna explain how you slept with me because you lost a bet?”

“That’s…” he pauses, “that’s not the whole truth.”

“But it’s part of it?”

“Yes, but—”

“But nothing, Max. You humiliated me.” I flex my jaw. “God, I feel disgusting…”

“We didn’t do it to humiliate you, Pheebs,” Thad says. “It was supposed to humiliate us.”

A tear slips down my cheek. “Wow. So, having sex with me was humiliating? Cool.”

He winces, once again choking on the foot in his mouth. Can’t believe I thought that was cute before. “I didn’t mean it like that way—”

“You lost and I was your punishment,” I say over him. “What other way is there to say that?”

They fall quiet while they try and piece together another bullshit excuse — one that I honestly can’t deal with right now.

“I’m done,” I say. “We’re done.”

“Wait, Phoebe—”

The two of them push forward into the door frame, bumping shoulders, but I stand my ground.

“No.” I bite my trembling lip. “I can’t even think about that night anymore without feeling nauseous.”

“Give us ten minutes,” Max begs. “You have every right to be pissed but you don’t have the whole story.”

“He’s right,” Thad says. “Please, Pheebs.”

“Okay,” I nod, “here’s my question. Would you have told me what really happened? Ever?”

They exhale, saying nothing.

My chest aches as tears start falling. “That’s what I thought,” I say.

Max blocks the door with his foot. “Let’s just… We can work this out—”

“How about we just cut out the middle woman and the two of you go home and fuck each other?” I spit. “There. All worked out.”

Thad lays his hand on the door, ready to argue and fight me but I speak before he does.

“I trusted you,” I tell him.

His mouth opens but no words come out. He recoils back as if I stabbed him in the chest. At least he knows how that feels now.

I move to close the door again.

Max leans in. “Wait, Phoebe—”

“Max…” Thad grabs his arm, his eyes far away from me. “Let her go. Come on.”

He pulls him back and I slam the door as soon as they clear the frame.

I linger with my forehead pressed to the door. I don’t look through the peephole. If I do, I might see them and melt under their eyes. There’s a piece of me that still just wants to invite them in and forget everything ever happened but I can’t do that. I can’t bring myself to do anything but collapse onto my couch with a blanket and shut out the world.

To growing up, my ass.

* * *

“Phoebe?”

I open my eyes and glance at my office door. “What?” I ask.

Jackie pushes her head in a little more. “Mr. Fellows just arrived,” she says. “He and Bradley are setting up in the conference room. I told them I’d come fetch you.”

Is it time already? Guess so.

“Okay,” I say.

She steps in with a coffee mug in her hands and closes the door behind her, staring down at me with soft, careful eyes. “Are you all right?” she asks.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? Because the staff has officially appointed me to venture in here and make sure you’re not dead.”

“Not dead,” I say. “All good.”

“Phoebe, you’ve been sprawled out on that couch for almost three hours.”

“So?”

She sets the mug down on my desk and leans over to nudge my knee. “What’s going on?”

I force myself to sit up and she plops down beside me. I’m not ready to talk about any of this yet but Jackie’s not going to take that for an answer right now.

“I broke up with the guys last night.”

She blinks. “Both of them?”

“Yeah.”

“What’d they do?”

I force the lump down my throat. “We went out last night, the three of us together, and I ran into Sally Sweet.”

Her eyes roll. “That girl still exists?”

“She told me that Max and Thad lost a bet at the reunion.”

“What kind of bet?”

“The kind where the winner got to take home Sally and the losers…” I gesture at myself.

Her mouth sags. “No.”

“Yes.” I stare at the floor. “I was just… the thing they had to do to make good on a bet.”

“Are you sure?”

“They admitted to it.”

“Those motherfuckers,” she spits. “I feel genuine wrath right now.”

“Yeah, I got that out of my system already and I skipped right over bargaining, too. This…” I point at my face, “this is depression.”

“Wait, wait, wait…” She twists toward me. “Why would they still be dating you if it was just a one-time bet?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. The best I can come up with is that this whole thing has been some kind of extended challenge or some 3D chess torture game or something. I just feel so stupid. Their performances were top-freaking-notch.”

“Or they both really like you and they wanted to keep seeing you.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious,” she argues. “You’re an awesome person. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if—”

“Stop, Jackie.” I wipe away a tear before it falls. “I knew better from the start. No one really changes. People don’t grow up. Our hopes and dreams just get repressed to the point of total submission while people like them rule over us like gods.”

“Okay…” She shakes her head. “I don’t like this. You’re starting to sound like me.”

“Good. Because you were right. Falling for two men never ends well — and that’s without them being total sociopaths.”

“Occam’s Razor.”

I furrow my brow. “What?”

“The simplest explanation is usually the most likely explanation,” she says. “Do you really think these guys would go through this much trouble just to fuck with you?”

“Yes.”

She tilts her head with annoyance. “Well, I don’t. You should talk to them again before drawing conclusions.”

“No, I can’t see them anymore. Either of them. It’s over.”

“Phoebe…”

“What?”

She wraps her arms around me, saying nothing while she gently rocks back and forth a little. It’s comforting, I suppose. Not nearly as satisfying as chucking a chair out the window like I want to.

“I thought they were different,” I say.

“Said every scorned woman ever,” she quips. “You’ll pull through.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so.” She leans over and grabs my coffee mug off the desk. “Here. Refuel. You have a meeting to get to.”

I take hold of it and drink a long, hot sip. It burns on its way down but I barely feel it through the numb, aching horribleness festering in me.

Jackie sighs. “Everything is going to be fine, Phoebe.”

“How do you know?”

“First of all, you just spent the last few weeks fixing a book we both agreed was beyond repair into something workable and that’s pretty badass. Second, that book is about to earn you an amazing new office with a damn fine view. And third, give me your coffee.”

I hand it over without thinking and she sets it down by her feet. “I just wish I could go back and—”

She slaps me and the force of it sends me back into the soft cushions.

“Jackie, dammit.” I wince as pain fires down my shoulder. “Why do I always fall for that?”

“Seriously. It’s like you don’t even know me.”

I rub my cheek. “Ow…”

“I thought we were friends.”

“So, I’m a boss-ass bitch?” I ask.

“You’re damn right you are,” she says. “You’re Phoebe Pink. You’re my hero.”

I scoff. “How am I your hero?”

“You got fucked repeatedly by two hot pieces of man-meat. Ruse or not, you’re my fucking idol.”

I laugh. “Yeah, okay.”

“Shitty outcome aside. You have to admit how amazing you are. If you ask me, I think those guys really did fall for you. Some people go their whole lives waiting for someone to fall in love with them. You got two in one week.”

I shrug. “I guess so.”

She rattles my shoulders. “Now, shake it off. The boss-ass bitch has a meeting and the boss-ass bitch is gonna own it.”

I sit up tall, filling my lungs to the top with one, long breath.

I’m a boss-ass bitch.

“Here we go…” I say.