“Since when has that mattered? Don’t bullshit me, Mase. Is this a way to get back at me? You’ve never liked anyone. You can’t possibly expect me to believe it was any more than a quick fuck to piss me off.”
“Are you kidding me? Not everything is about you. Why would I use Jenna for that?”
“Because she’smine.”
Jesus Christ.My stomach tenses with a mounting anger of my own. Now I know why Jenna was annoyed when I called her Jack’s. It sounds fucked up coming from his mouth. But surely, like me, he said it in the heat of the moment.
“She’s not anyone’s property, Jack. Is that your way of saying that you want her?”
“It is. She came here forme.”
“And you left her alone. Come on. Be real here.”
“I am being real. Jenna understood why I left. She gets it. She getsme.”
“That may be true, but do you know anything about her? Doyougether?”
“Of course I fucking do. We’ve been friends foryears.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” I raise my hands in mock defeat and Jack fucking smiles, once again displaying an inability to read a goddamn room. “I’m being sarcastic, asshole.”
“Try me.” He pats his chest and I shake my head.
“I’m not playing games. I care about Jenna. I—” His face drops, cutting off what I was going to say next. And thank God for that because I’m not sure what I was going to admit.
“I care about her too, Mase. I fucked up. I know that. But I can’t lose her. If you hadn't stepped in, she might have wanted me back.”
She might have wanted him back?Fuck.Tightness fills my chest until my ribs ache like they’re close to cracking. “Don’t buy her flowers,” I blurt when he turns away, my heart pounding in my chest. “She’s allergic to pollen and struggles to breathe if she sniffs it up close.” I pause, my pulse racing, an anxious feeling coursing through my body. “She drinks vodka at parties but prefers gin and tonic, if you’re planning on taking her out. And she hates wearing dresses. The only way you’re getting her in one is if her acting role asks for it, and even then, she’ll argue, questioning if it’s really what her character would wear.” Jack blinks slowly, momentarily stunned, and I don’t blame him, because what the fuck am I doing? “She—”
“How do you know all of that? You only just met.”
“How do younotknow, Jack?” My voice rises. I knew he was careless, but I thought he was better than this. “How is it possible you seem to know nothing about her? It’s been years as you said.”
“Exactly, it’s been years. I haven’t seen her since I was nineteen and—”
“I’m talking about theletters. I’ve read them, remember? The same letters you read. It was all in there; you just had to pay attention—”
“Stop!” Jenna’s broken voice cuts into my anger and I spin around so fast, I feel nauseous.
“Jenna, I—”
“You read my letters? All this time, I felt like you knew me. As if we had some kind of deep, meaningful connection, but it was all bullshit.”
“It wasn’t. It—”
“Stop,” she repeats, raising a hand in front of her, turning to Jack. “And you. You let him read them? Is he the only one? Or did you share them around?”
“That’s not—”
“It doesn’t matter. This,”—she waves her hands around—“all of this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come. I thought I knew you, Jack. And I thought I was getting to know you, Mason. Obviously, I was wrong.”
My body numbs as she rips my heart clear from my chest and storms out with it, undoubtedly throwing it in the bin on her way past.Fuuuck.Why didn’t I tell her?
“Jenna—”
“Jenna, wait.” Jack chases after her but I don’t move, letting him have his moment.
I lied to her and she deserves better than that. She deserves a second to breathe.
