Chapter 2

"Tucker, what took you so long?"

As soon as I sat down, Muniz started whining and acting cute with me.

"I haven't taken my medicine tonight yet. My cough seems even worse."

He blinked his eyes and nuzzled his face against my shoulder.

Not a trace of the cold, unfeeling person from the rooftop moments ago.

Friends nearby started teasing.

"What are you doing! Take your PDA outside!"

"These two are disgustingly clingy all day! If I didn't think they were perfect for each other—and couldn't beat them up—I would've kicked them out of the group chat ages ago!"

"This is what we call true love prevailing! Childhood sweethearts, a match made in heaven!"

"Muniz fooled around for twenty-some years and now he's totally whipped by our Tucker. Makes even me believe in love."

The sticky residue from the melted pill coating still lingered on my palm.

Suppressing my disgust, I smiled faintly.

I leaned forward slightly to reach for the sparkling wine at the corner of the table, also avoiding Muniz.

"Where's Ramon?"

Muniz was about to lean in again, but when he heard me ask about Ramon, he froze.

"He went to pick up a friend! Oh, there they are now."

Ramon and a thin girl in a white dress sat down one after the other, keeping half a meter between them.

"You're one lucky guy. Your friend is so pretty—why don't you introduce her to us?"

A friend joked.

Ramon glanced at Muniz awkwardly and replied.

"This is my friend, Scott."

Amid the lively laughter, I looked at Scott, and she looked at Muniz with glistening eyes.

The person who had been constantly sidling up to me moments ago now subtly pulled away, leaning against the sofa beside him.

That dull pain surged up again. No matter how hard I tried to control it, I couldn't suppress the sadness and anger rising in my heart.

Scott hadn't learned to restrain herself. Or maybe, as the one being loved, she had the right to be arrogant.

Her gaze lingered on Muniz almost brazenly.

My friend Barbara noticed I was unhappy and laughed directly.

"Scott, the guy you're staring at is off-limits. He's about to get married."

Scott's face immediately turned red. She looked away, laughing somewhat awkwardly.

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend."

Muniz still had a smile on his face, but his tone was sharp as he defended her.

"Barbara, you like to play around, but not everyone is like you."

Barbara's temper flared. She stood up to smack Muniz.

I held her back and smiled at Muniz.

"You talk like you're so faithful. Barbara has never two-timed anyone."

Muniz froze. He instinctively avoided my gaze, then forced a calm smile.

"I haven't either. Why are you getting mad at me?"

Seeing my obviously unhappy face, Muniz picked up a drink and downed it.

"I spoke wrong. I apologize to Barbara. Let's move on."

Amid everyone's laughter and conversation, I saw Scott looking at Muniz with eyes full of heartache.

As if I were some terrible villain tormenting this poor little couple.

"Alright, alright, let's play a game. How about spin the bottle photo album?"

Ramon stepped in to smooth things over.

"If you've got anything you can't show, hide it now. Don't scare everyone."

"I'll pick a date first."

"May 17, 2023!"

Everyone pulled out their phones. Whoever the bottle pointed to had to open their photo album to the corresponding date and show everyone what they did that day.

The bottle's mouth stopped right in front of me on the first spin.

My phone screen was shared to the big screen.

Ocean waves, beach, candlelit dinner, and a screenshot of a delivery locker number.

"That's from your birthday that year! You two went to the beach together for vacation!"

Barbara teased, pushing my shoulder and lowering her voice.

"I even asked you if sleeping with a man felt amazing."

I smiled at Barbara. What was once beautiful now tasted only bitter.

A sharp-eyed friend pointed at the screen and asked Muniz.

"You two ordered delivery at 2 AM?"

"What kind of delivery, Muniz? Don't tell me it was condoms!"

All our friends burst into laughter. Muniz, who usually played along, couldn't laugh this time.

He looked at Scott, whose face had gone pale.

"No, just some cold medicine. Don't talk nonsense."

Malice suddenly surged from my heart.

"Wasn't buying medicine that day because you hurt me?"

I smiled gently, tearing open my own wound just to disgust them.

"You were too rough. I don't know what you were so excited about. That dress was expensive—I'd only worn it once."

"Muniz, you acted like you'd never slept with anyone before. Your technique was terrible."

"Did the Scotts you liked before never let you touch them?"

Amid everyone's teasing and joking, I saw Scott bow her head and wipe away tears. I saw Muniz looking displeased yet forcibly holding back his frustration.

I was clearly laughing from the satisfaction, yet my chest felt so stuffy and my nose so sore.

"Next one!"

Ramon wiped the sweat from his forehead and spun the bottle again.

The mouth pointed at Scott.

She forced a fragile smile.

"There's nothing interesting in my album."

Barbara looked at me, then at her, frowning perceptively.

"Scott, if you can't handle the game, don't join in."

Muniz frowned. Before he could speak, I grabbed his hand first.

I leaned close to his face, tinged with anger. From the side, it probably looked like we were kissing.

"I'm a little hungry. Can you go order some food for me?"

Muniz paused for a few seconds, then stood up and went to the private room attendant to get the iPad for ordering.

"I can handle it."

I knew Scott had seen my interaction with him. I heard the gritted teeth in her voice.

She glared at me through tears.

This was the first time tonight she made eye contact with me, with desperate determination and unconcealed hatred.

Her phone was projected onto the big screen. The first image was a chat screenshot.

A nosy friend read aloud.

"Did you sleep with her? You said it was just a marriage alliance. You promised me you wouldn't touch her!"

"But I was thinking about you the whole time, Scott."