“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“What’s to tell?” I shrug. “I fell for the Lockwood charm, then found out he was using the same line on all of his other women.”
“Women?” Pen asks, her brows furrowing. “What women? Kat, when was all this?”
I sigh. “Your last year of uni.”
It’s why I’ve never talked to her about it. It wasn’t fair. Everyone had so much going on.
I put my cutlery down, my appetite gone.
Pen waits patiently.
“Jax and I got together. We had a thing for a couple of months until I overheard one of Darra’s friends repeating the exact same line he’d used on me. They were laughing about how it seemed to work for him. How, by using it, he was able to keep all his lady friends in the dark about one another.”
Pen frowns. “What line? I’m really confused. Jax was the most celibate one of the group. He was focusing on his studies in that final year. I’m certainly not aware of a harem of women he had dancing to his tune.”
I sigh. “When we were together, he told me we should keep our relationship between the two of us, at least until after graduation.” My gaze drops to the table, zeroing in on a crumb next to my plate. “He said, it was no one else’s business but our own. His reasoning was Elijah, that it would complicate things as they were living together. But when I heard them talking, I could see how it would work in other scenarios too.”
“What did Jax say when you confronted him?”
I love that Pen knows I would not have let that ride, would have faced it head-on.
“He denied it, of course.”
Pen’s frown deepens.
“But you didn’t believe him?”
“He’d been secretive about a couple of things, and I had proof they’d been at the hotel together.” I take a deep breath, hating the need to rehash the past. “So, I asked Zach and Elijah about Jax’s love life?—”
Pen tilts her head, her eyebrows squishing together as she purses her lips.
“What on earth didtheysay? Surely they set the record straight?” She pauses as her words sink in. “But they didn’t, did they?”
I shake my head.
“Zach confirmed everything I’d heard. He laughed and said he was considering trying it, as it had been so successful. Elijah told me about the harem of women who would follow Jax around. His fan club he called them.”
Pen’s fingers curl into a fist on the table top, and she takes a deep breath before meeting my gaze.
“I don’t know what happened between you. All I can give is my perspective, and I’m a pretty good judge of character.” Her gaze locks on mine. “Jax was never a player, Kat.” She grips my forearm. “Yes, he certainly had the looks to be. And what Eli said was true, he did have a fan club who would follow him around.” She sighs. “But it embarrassed him, especially when the boys would rib him about it.” She shakes her head. “Kat, listen to me when I say Jaxson Lockwood was all about bettering himself. Like me, he was there to build a solid future for himself. He certainly wouldn’t have wasted his energy, juggling more than one relationship.” She moves her head, ensuring I’m watching her. “And I can promise you, Jax would not have been messing around with any of Darra’s friends. He hated her and everything she and her stuck-up group stood for. He knew she was manipulating Eli, but he could never prove it.”
I shake my head, loving her loyalty to her friend.
“But Pen, you don’t understand. When I overheard them, Darra and her friends, they didn’t even know I was there.”
Pen raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
I press my fingers into my temples.
Of course, this is Darra we’re talking about. Anything is possible.
Manipulation and cunning should have been her middle names.
“No one knew we were together.”
My pitch rises as my heart rate increases.
