Part 2Your First Love Can Keep You

Declan’s face went rigid.

"You knew we dated in high school?"

I rolled the lip gloss between my fingers, letting out a quiet breath. "It would take a miracle not to know, Declan. I’m not blind."

He lowered his eyes. The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.

"When did you find out?"

I tilted my head, studying the stranger sitting in my living room. "Does it matter?"

"Are you trying to figure out where the leak was? Run a post-mortem on your strategy so the next lie is airtight?"

I couldn't keep the venom out of my voice. "When you, Marissa, and Kelsey were all coordinating your stories to keep me in the dark, did you hold weekly departmental meetings about it? Like you do with your lab data?"

"Tell me, Declan. As my boyfriend, and as my supposed best friend, did it give you a thrill to stand on Marissa’s side of the line and make a fool out of me?"

Declan took a sharp, suffering breath, the picture of a man pushed to his limits. "How many times do I have to say it? We didn't team up to lie to you!"

It was laughable.

"Are you an idiot, Declan, or do you just think I am?"