Chapter 3

3

Hearing that, Chloe finally ripped her eyes away from her phone screen.

She slammed her palm onto the steering wheel, making the horn blare violently into the night.

"Sean, I've given you way too much leeway lately, haven't I?" she snapped.

"Skipping this makes me look bad in front of my crew. You're coming, period!"

Her stubborn, domineering attitude flared up once again.

Seeing my pale face, however, she softened her tone slightly to placate me.

"We'll just drop by, say hi, and leave. Stop being such a buzzkill."

By the time we walked into the private VIP booth at the lounge, it was past eleven at night.

The moment we arrived, Dawson smoothly grabbed Chloe's hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in greeting.

He looked me up and down with a smirk. "Big guy sure takes his sweet time."

"You aren't still salty about me having dinner at Chloe's place, are you?"

"Don't be so petty, man. Chloe and I have known each other for ages."

"If there were any sparks between us, you wouldn't even be in the picture!"

With that, the crew surrounded Chloe and pulled her toward the plush velvet couch, laughing and chatting.

I was left sitting in a dark corner, feeling physically worse by the minute.

Chloe had promised we would just say hello and leave, but she had clearly forgotten all about it.

Suddenly, Dawson paused, turning to face me with an amused grin.

"Hey Sean, you can head home first if you want. You don't understand race cars anyway."

They were all wealthy childhood friends from the same exclusive track club.

Over the past six years, I had tried my hardest to fit into her world.

Yet during every gathering, Dawson made sure to reminisce about their private memories or discuss mechanical tuning that I knew nothing about.

They intentionally iced me out of every conversation.

As the tension hung in the air, Chloe's best friend tried to smooth things over.

"Sean doesn't follow racing, so let's drop the topic and drink! Who's up for Truth or Dare?"

The crowd erupted into cheers, playing drinking games and throwing dice.

Soon enough, Dawson lost a round and picked Dare with Chloe.

The card required them to share a shot glass mouth-to-mouth.

Dawson turned his head slowly, casting a blatant, provocative look at me.

"Sean, it's just a harmless party game. You won't get jealous, right?"

I flashed back to a previous party when Chloe's friend asked her during Truth or Dare why she chose to date me.

Chloe's answer was etched permanently into my memory.

She had said, "Sean's side profile looks a little like Dawson's."

Everyone in her circle knew exactly who that meant.

Recalling that moment, I let out a faint, quiet sigh.

"I don't mind at all. We're broken up, so you two can make out all night."

I surprised myself with how calm and steady my voice sounded.

Dawson scoffed, swirling the amber liquor in his glass with disdain.

"Only pathetic losers use fake breakups as threats," he sneered.

Seeing that I wasn't giving her any face in front of her friends, Chloe's expression darkened instantly.

"Sean, did treating you nicely make you forget your place?"

"Did you forget all those nights you cried on your knees, begging me not to leave you?"

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