“That’s why we had to talk, Laura. If you couldn’t trust me, who else could you talk to?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Vince. I didn’t even know where to begin,” I replied.

“Begin at the start and go all the way to the end,” he urged.

I glared at him. “That’s a pretty long story, and it’s not one you are ready to hear.”

“Try me. I’m ready. I can listen to what you have to say. If you tell me everything, I’ll try to understand and make you feel better,” he assured me.

I gasped, staring at him in shock.

He dropped his gaze to the floor, and I took a step closer. He was saying all the right things. The perfect words to convince me to talk to him about what happened.

But I wasn’t ready. Not yet.

I should have known better than to come to the library with him. It was too public, and I couldn’t risk anyone else hearing us. I had to take him somewhere private.

“We’re not going to talk here,” I hissed, turning around and storming off.

He didn’t follow me.

“Laura, wait! Laura!” he called out, but I ignored him.

“Where are we going?”

I continued walking in the opposite direction of the library until I heard him call out to me again.

I stopped in my tracks and turned around. I raised my hand to silence him. “Not now. We’re not going to talk here. It’s too public. Let’s talk at my dorm. I don’t want anyone else to know about this.”

I waited for him to respond, but he remained silent. But then, he nodded, and he followed suit.

I headed down the hallway and turned right, leading us out of the building and to my dorm.

I remained quiet the entire time, keeping my gaze straight ahead, my heart beating rapidly against my chest. I didn’t understand why it was so difficult for me to talk about what happened.

I shouldn’t have been afraid of this, but I was. It was like this was the first time something like this had happened to me.

Lucas had hurt me in ways I didn’t know were possible. But he couldn’t hurt me anymore. I wouldn’t let him.

Once we reached my dorm, I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. Vince was the last person I wanted to see in here, but it wasn’t like I could tell him to leave.

He needed to be here, and it was the best place to have a private conversation, given the fact that my roommate wasn’t here.

I headed straight to my bed and sat down, Vince following suit and sitting on my desk chair. He watched me with wide eyes as though he was expecting something to happen, but I kept my hands still on my lap, staring at them.

I couldn’t even bring myself to look at him, but I felt his gaze on me, and I was too afraid of what might happen if I looked up.

I couldn’t.

I had to remain strong and not let anyone break me down. Lucas hurt me, but I wouldn’t let that guy destroy me.

“Vince…” I started, but I paused mid-sentence, my words failing me as I realized what he did to me.

I couldn’t just get over it like that.

“Laura, I…” he said, and I closed my eyes, unable to bear his stare any longer.

He must have thought I was pathetic, but I couldn’t help it. I had just found out my boyfriend cheated on me, and he was the only person I wanted to talk to about it. I had never told anyone about it, and it felt good to know that I could trust him with this information.

I took a deep breath and spoke, my words coming out shakier than I would have liked, “Lucas was my first boyfriend. My only one.”

I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable, but it was the only way I knew how to deal with this situation. It was like I was on autopilot, and I couldn’t control anything I was doing.

I could feel Vince’s eyes burning holes through my head as he waited for me to say something else. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath, steeling myself for what I needed to tell him.

“He was… my first everything. I didn’t want to lose my virginity to him, but I believed that I would grow to love him someday. But he never cared about that. He only wanted to get his dick wet and move on to the next girl in line.”

I stopped myself before I could say anything else. I didn’t want him to think I was stupid. I didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t aware of the fact that Lucas wasn’t serious about our relationship or about me.

“I’m sorry, Laura,” Vince said. “He’s a worthless piece of shit, and you deserve so much better than him.”

I remained silent for a few minutes, still unable to look up at him.

“How long has he been cheating on you? Do you know?”

“For a month,” I answered, but he chuckled on hearing the answer.

“A month? Not even surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve known Lucas for quite some time, and he’s always been like this. He never missed a pretty girl. He tried to become friends with me once, but I was lucky to see through his petty soul.”

“I don’t want to believe that.”

Vince shrugged, averting his gaze from me. “It doesn’t matter. That’s not the point. What matters is that I saw what he was up to, but I didn’t stop him.”

“Why would you care about me?”

“Because you’re a good person, Laura. I wasn’t the only one who could see that about you.”

I didn’t respond.

“When did you first suspect that he was cheating on you?”

I closed my eyes as I remembered the moment, a chill running down my spine. “He told me he was going to study at the library for an hour. But he didn’t come back. He came to my dorm, and… and…”

I trailed off and turned my head, gazing out the window. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him while I said this.

I was too ashamed of myself. Of the fact that I was so foolish to believe all the things Lucas said.

“What did he do, Laura?” His voice sounded distant, as though he was trying his best not to get emotional. But I could feel the anger radiating from him.

He hated Lucas even more than I did.

He should. I couldn’t stand the thought of that scumbag ever coming near me again.

“He made me sleep with him.”

“What did he do?!” Vince asked again, and this time, I turned my head to face him.

His gaze was fierce, but his voice remained steady. He was trying to keep his emotions in check, and I was impressed.

“He forced me, Vince. He was my first, and he treated me like a disposable whore. He didn’t care about me. He just wanted to get his dick wet and move on to the next girl. And he did. He fucked another girl in his dorm while I was lying on the floor, completely devastated.”

Tears streamed down my face, but I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t.

“He seemed to be so much better than that, Vince. But he turned out to be nothing more than a cheating scumbag. Why do people like that even exist?”

I turned my gaze away and stared at the wall. I couldn’t look at Vince. I didn’t want to be vulnerable.

“You’re a strong woman, Laura. He can’t break you because you’re too strong for that. He can’t hurt you anymore. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“But how am I supposed to live without him?”