The Roommate, Kiersten Modglin [best books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

on my screen again. Torn between trying to chase down Elias again and answer the call, I pressed the phone to my ear, scanning the room. I was out of breath when I answered.

“Hello?”

“How could you do this to me?” she asked. I knew right away that she was crying, her sobs making it hard to understand her. “You made me feel like crap because I had Rory’s boyfriend’s dad over for a half hour to get to know him for our daughter. Meanwhile, you’re sleeping with another woman.”

My stomach fell, a lump forming in my throat as my skin instantly chilled at her words. No. I pressed a finger to my opposite ear, Elias momentarily forgotten, and rushed out of the room. “What are you talking about?”

“The picture, Wes. Don’t play stupid with me. You obviously were trying to prove a point, and you’ve done that. I can handle a lot of things from you, almost everything, but I wasn’t prepared for you to be outright cruel to me… Who was she? Was she even someone you knew? Or just…some random woman you picked up at a bar? I was trying to be kind to you… Throughout all of this, I’ve tried to be mindful of your feelings. I know that you may not agree with my decision to move forward with the divorce, that you were hurt by it, but I would never purposefully hurt you. I thought we were better than that.”

She was sobbing as she spoke, her words coming out in garbled clumps and then several inhales before the next phrase. I was having to work to understand what she was saying, but I caught the gist. How did she even know? I hated myself for hurting her, for causing these tears. This was never what I wanted.

“Addy, I wasn’t trying to hurt you. You told me you were going to see other people and I—” I lowered my voice as a group of people walked past me. “I was devastated. I am devastated. I’m an idiot. It was a mistake. You broke my heart, and I just—I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want a divorce.”

“Yeah, well, that’s one hell of a way to show it, Wes. It’s bad enough that you did it at all, but I can’t fault you, because you’re right, I showed you the door. But to send me that picture, I just don’t under—”

“Hold on,” I said, pressing my finger harder into my ear as I tried to focus on what she was saying. The door to the room swung open as the group entered, momentarily encompassing me in loud music. I headed for the staircase, trying to make sense of her words. “What picture? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, are you seriously going to pretend you don’t know?”

“I’m not pretending. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you honestly saying that you aren’t the person who sent a naked photo of you and some random woman to my phone? Honestly, Wes, even if you were just trying to hurt me, Rory could’ve seen it. Did you even think of that?”

I nearly dropped my phone, looking for my text messages. I clicked on her name, reading the last message from her. Before that, there was nothing. No picture. No outgoing messages. I put the phone back to my ear. Oliver’s warning echoed in my ear, my heartbeat echoing in my ears.

“I didn’t send you a picture, Addy. I would never do that. You have to know I’m not that person.”

“Well who did, then? The woman? Why would she do that? Why, Wes? Does she even know who I am?”

I huffed out a heavy breath, trying to think. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. “I don’t understand. So, you got a picture, from my phone, of…”

“Yes.” She stopped me from having to fill in the blank.

“Listen, I think someone may have cloned my phone.”

“Cloned your—what are you even talking about right now?”

“It’s the same thing with the text message to Rory. I never sent it. And I couldn’t have sent this one either. I was taking a shower when you started calling. I thought I heard someone in my room. So even if it wasn’t a clone, maybe someone broke in or… Elias. Elias was mad at me about not inviting him to a party. Maybe he did it. I need to reset my phone. Oliver thinks that may help, but—”

“What are you talking about? What party? Why would Elias take a photo of you and send it to me? And what does any of this have to do with factory resetting your phone? You’re not making any sense.”

I clenched my fists at my sides. So much about the situation didn’t make sense. If someone had cloned my phone, how would they have managed to get a picture of Stephanie and me? And, if it was Elias, how would he have managed to sneak into my room without getting caught and still be down here eating in such a short amount of time? And how would he have had the photo in the first place? “When did you get the picture? When did I send it to you? Around seven thirty?”

“No. You sent it early this morning, right around the time I got to work. Please don’t play games with me, Wes. I know it was you, I just don’t understand why you would do it. Who was she?” She inhaled sharply, sniffling.

“She was—it doesn’t matter. I… Addy, I—”

“No, you know what, I don’t want to know. I debated even bringing this up to you. It doesn’t even warrant a response, quite frankly. But I’ve been so upset. I’m so angry with you. I just don’t understand.”

“Listen to me,” I said firmly. “I didn’t do this. Do you hear me? I have no idea who did, but I’m going to find out.”

She was silent.

“Do you hear me?”

“I just…I don’t have time for this, Wes. When you’re