Chapter 99

TESSA

It takes exactly three seconds for Anastasia to register me. She eyes me lazily, a grin spreading on her face. Lyle jerks away like he’s been tasered and scrambles to cover up what I can never unsee.

I just stare. Blank. Numb.

Then I slowly back out of the room, pulling the door shut with the same care someone might use to contain a wild animal.

I stand there for a moment, breathing.

And then I laugh.

Unhinged. Quiet. Maybe a little hysterical.

Because really—what else is there left to do?

So I open the door again.

And walk back in.

Lyle’s halfway into his boxers, clumsy and red-faced, muttering something no one’s listening to.

“Tess, please,” he says, rushing toward me. “It wasn’t—I didn’t think you’d get here this early—”

I step back, avoiding his touch by a fraction. “So to kill time you might as well fuck your date’s cousin? Wonderful.”

He flinches like he’s been slapped. “I’m sorry, Tessie, I—”<