THE SECOND MATT SHOWED ME the picture of Hayley I thought I was going to be sick. I couldn’t seem to wrap my mind around the fact that she’d played me the whole time and lied to my face. Why would she do that? One thing was for certain, I was going to find out the answers and I didn’t give a damn that it was seven o’clock in the morning.
“Shelby, what are you doing?” Matt asked hesitantly.
Wet hair and all, I pulled it up into a ponytail, and quickly dressed in a pair of jeans I had lying around and the first shirt I could find, which happened to be a plain gray sweatshirt.
Huffing, I slid on my tennis shoes. “I’m going to Hayley’s to find out why the hell she turned on me.” I rushed out of my room, picture in hand, and grabbed my purse from the counter, along with my keys.
“You’re not going by yourself,” Matt shouted from my bedroom.
Emerging in a pair of black track pants and a wrinkled red T-shirt, he ran his fingers through his dark hair and followed me out the door.
Before I got in the car, I glanced over at him and noticed the worried expression on his face. “I’ll be okay, Matt. I got this,” I told him honestly.
Opening the door, I slid in and waited for him to buckle up before putting my car in gear and speeding off down the road. Hayley didn’t live too far away, so I knew it wouldn’t take long to get there … maybe ten minutes.
Matt put a hand on my thigh, rubbing in smooth circles across my jeans. “What are you going to say to her?”
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll figure that out when I see her. That is if I don’t slap her unconscious before I get the first word out.”
When we arrived at her house, Josh was in the driveway wearing a nice pair of gray dress pants and a blue button down, preparing to get into his black Land Rover. His eyes went wide when he saw me. “Shelby, what are you doing here so early in the morning?”
“Where’s Hayley?” I asked, not stopping to talk to him. I wanted to find her, and if I had to bust down her front door I would do it.
“She’s inside getting ready to work out,” he hollered behind me. “The door is unlocked.”
As soon as I opened the door, I yelled her name as loud as I could, “Hayley! Hayley, where are you?”
Upstairs, she rushed to the banister and peered down at me. “Oh my God, Shelby? Are you okay?”
Glaring up at her, I spat, “Don’t play that innocent bullshit with me, Hayley. Tell me how you found out about me and Matt? I never told you, and Lexi said she didn’t tell you, either. So how?”
She laughed and waved me off. “Shelby, have you lost your mind. Lexi told me about you and Matt the night of my party.”
“I’m not talking about that,” I snapped. “I’m talking about a long time ago, before me and Matt even started seeing each other again. You and Kyle schemed this whole plan so you could throw it back in Matt’s face. I’m assuming with all the pictures that were taken, you guys planned on videotaping the sex if Kyle were to get me into bed with him. That would’ve been the ultimate blow to Matt, but I’m happy to say you failed.”
“I–I have no idea wh–what yo–you’re talking about,” she stammered incredulously.
Gritting my teeth, I charged up the stairs. The moment I got to the top, I thrust the picture in her face. “This is what I’m talking about. That’s you in the picture, Hayley, and the guy who appears to be Matt is Kyle. Do you care to explain what the fuck is going on? How could you do this to me … to Josh? You’ve been cheating on him with Kyle!”
She snatched the picture out of my hand with a scowl on her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This picture doesn’t mean shit.”
Hayley brushed right past me and started down the steps, but I followed close on her heels until we got to the bottom floor. “Fine, if you don’t want to admit to this picture, why don’t you tell me about the time you threw a vase at Matt’s head. I’d like to know how you’re going to lie your way out of that one. Or better yet, what did I ever do to you for you to turn on me like this? You were like family to me, Hayley.”
Mouth wide, she gasped and turned to face me. “What did Matt tell you? He’s the one who likes to lie. I bet he said I was the one who came onto him, didn’t he?”
“Really?” I scoffed. “And you’re going to tell me that you didn’t? You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s true,” she cried, wiping her dry eyes. “He tried to attack me.” Hayley was a dancer, not an actress, and her pity party attempt to thwart me wasn’t getting her anywhere. It was pathetic, and I could see right through it.
Grabbing her by her shirt, I slammed her into the nearest wall as hard as I could, knocking the breath out of her. “Enough of the lies,” I yelled in her face. About that time, Matt and Josh both rushed in through the front door.
“Tell me why?” I shouted.
Almost instantly, her whole mood changed and her gaze narrowed, honing in on me with nothing but hate. Where was the Hayley I thought I knew?
“Okay, Miss Perfect, you want the truth? Well, here it is. I had my eye on Matt for the past couple of years and no, I didn’t know at the time of your history together. We partied with the same crowds, and one night I figured it was time to make a move. Never have I been turned down by a man before, but he had the audacity to look at me like I was a piece of trash on the side of the road.”
“That’s probably because you ripped off all your clothes and basically tried to force yourself on him,” I snapped in disgust.
She gasped. “He told you that?”
“He told me everything.”
Rolling her eyes, she scoffed and continued, “Whatever, he’s not worth it anyway.”
“You still didn’t answer my question. How did you know about mine and Matt’s past? Lexi promised she didn’t say anything to you.”
She stared at me for a few seconds, and her lips spread out in a mischievous smile. “No, my sister didn’t say a word since she’s completely loyal to you no matter how much I prodded. It was your mother, Shelby. She was the one who told me about Matt when I ate lunch with her and my mother.”
You have got to be kidding me. I knew my mother loved to spend time with Janet, Lexi and Hayley’s mother, but I never thought she would bring up Matt after all this time.
“When?” I asked incredulously. “When did you talk to my mother?”
“Oh, you know how our mothers are. They like to meet a couple of times a month for lunch. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you she saw me; although, it figures since no one ever seems to notice me. Anyway, of course, you were the topic of conversation. Since your mother thought I already knew everything about you because we’re such great friends, she didn’t have a problem with telling me a few things. Like, take for instance, all about your high school sweetheart, Matt Reynolds.”
“At first, I was thinking there was no way she could be talking about the same Matt Reynolds, but when I asked if he was the MMA fighter, she confirmed it. Then again, you’re Shelby Dawson … you get everything you want,” she sneered.
Exasperated, I scoffed and shook my head. It made me sick how much she reminded me of Kyle. It was amazing how selfishness and greed could warp someone’s mind to turn on those that care for them.
“I don’t get everything I want,” I said, raising my voice with each word. “I bust my ass and work hard for the things I have. I get them the right way … the honest way.”
“Yeah, well, you got the perfect job earning more money than I could ever dream of making, a sexy and famous boyfriend, and a family that supports you know matter what you do. For ten years I’ve watched my sister idolize you and follow along in your footsteps, practically living in your shadow. Our own mother talks about you as if you were the daughter she never had and always wanted. I can’t even be around her without her asking about you and fawning all over you. All I heard after I graduated high school was why couldn’t I be more like Shelby, why don’t I do this like Shelby. I’m sick of being second best.”
By the time she finished speaking, her chest was heaving up and down with angry, ragged breaths, and the gorgeous crystal blue eyes of hers that I loved so much were now emotionless and bitter. I barely recognized her.
Slowly releasing her shirt from my grasp, I stepped back and took in a calming breath, hoping it would help me think of the right things to say. I never knew she felt that way, but whatever she felt was not my fault. That was her own insecurities and jealousies.
“Hayley,” I began more smoothly, keeping my voice low and hushed, “I hate you feel that way. I never once wanted or thought Lexi followed me around like that, because honestly, I enjoy walking around in her footsteps. She’s shown me so much and became more than just a friend; she’s my family. As far as your mother’s concerned, I know she’s proud of you and that she loves you.”
Hayley wouldn’t make eye contact with me because she knew she was in the wrong, and in my mind I wanted to lash out and hate her for trying to ruin my life, but in my heart she was still the spunky Hayley I’d met and watched grow into an accomplished woman over the past ten years.
Matt waited for me by the door with Josh, who stood there wide-eyed and confused, glancing back and forth between me and Hayley. She still hadn’t lifted her gaze, even when she knew Matt was standing right there in the room, and why would she, knowing she made herself look like a fool.
Before turning and walking out the door, I glanced back at her one last time. “If you think you’re second best, then you might want to take a good look around. Sabotaging people to get ahead is bad, but doing it to the people who love you is one of the saddest, pathetic things anyone could do. If you want to continue to fuck with me, then go ahead … because there’s nothing you can do that would hurt me more than the knowledge of you betraying me. That cut deeper than anything you could ever imagine.”
Hayley sagged to the floor and I stared at her for a few more seconds, watching her cry silently, before glancing over at Josh. “What’s going on?” he thundered.
Whether Hayley planned on telling Josh the truth I didn’t know, but I definitely knew it wasn’t my place to. “Josh, I’m sorry for barging in this morning. I’m hoping the issue Hayley and I have is just a misunderstanding. However, I’ll leave it up to her to decide.”
With those last words, I walked out the door with Matt by my side. Even though we knew who was responsible for helping Kyle, it still didn’t help because we knew that Kyle would keep pushing until he got what he wanted. He wanted Matt to fail so he could take back the title. I hated not knowing what was going to happen next.