9.

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Nine.

"Who are you texting?" I asked, staring at James on his bed.

"My cousin."

I jumped right next to him on the bed to look at his phone, and he shut it off instantly.

I was suspicious at first, until he put his arms around me.

"Let's watch a movie," he suggested, and turned the TV on.

I heard his phone ding, but he ignored it.

I loved spending time with him.

"Hey, I'm so sorry, but I have to cancel our date tonight," he said.

"Why?"

"My, uh, family is visiting, and they said it was mandatory that I went to this dinner. I'll make it up to you," he said kissing me.

I pulled away. "Wait, is this the same cousin that was texting you? What's his name?" I said excitedly. I've never really met any of his family, and I didn't even know he had a cousin.

"Her name is Veronica."

"Where is it?"

"The dinner? It's at the steakhouse down the street."

"Oh, nice." I said, and cuddled back in his arms.

Once he left for the family dinner, I decided to add Veronica on Facebook. I didn't really know any of James' family, so I decided to get to know someone. I went to James' profile and looked at who he was following.

I looked through everyone, and only found a Veronica Smith. I clicked on her profile and found multiple recent photos of her and James.

I scrolled down to find more photos of the two of them, kissing.

My heart sank.

Tears escaped my eyes, even with my attempts to hold them back.

I knew what I had to do.

I slipped on some converse and headed out for the Steakhouse.

I slammed the doors open, and spotted James and Veronica sitting alone at a table.

They didn't see me, but I most definitely saw them.

They kissed. No, that was an understatement. He made out with her.

He looked even happier with her than he ever did with me.

I stormed over there, furious with him.

I'd never expect him to do something like this.

I slammed my hands on the table. "Oh, hey James!" I spat, tears streaming down my face.

"Brooke, I can expl-"

"Save it." I turned to Veronica. "Oh hey, you're his cousin right?" I turned back to James. "I didn't know cousins made out with each other! How could you lie to me? You were there throughout my mother's death, and for what? So you could cheat on me?!"

By now, everyone in the restaurant was staring at me, but I didn't care.

His face was blank, and he was at a loss for words.

Veronica looked even madder than me, if that was even possible.

"How could you? I knew something was up, but you were cheating on both of us?" She slammed her napkin on the table and stormed out.

"We're over," I spat, and followed her out.

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