“What the hell? Kat, where is this coming from?”
“I heard her. She was telling Darra and their friends. She repeated the exact words you used on me. About keeping our relationship quiet, at least until after graduation.”
“She’s lying.”
“If she’s lying and it’s not true, then how did she know to use those exact words?”
Kat raises an eyebrow, her chin high. The challenge is there.
A wave of dizziness hits, as adrenaline floods my system.
“I don’t know.” I run a hand down my face. “Believe me, she’s the last person I would touch. You know that.”
“Do I? Why would she say it? She didn’t even know I could hear them. They were laughing, how it’s your standard line, allows you to play the field.”
I shrug, my mind racing, searching for answers to things I’m struggling to understand.
“I don’t know, but I promise you. It’s not true. You’re the only woman in my life.”
“She’s not the only one. Other people have confirmed it.”
“Who?” Pressure builds in my chest. “They’re lying.”
She shakes her head. I can see from her expression. Her mind has already been convinced by these mysterious people.
“Kat.”
Her eyes won’t meet mine.
“Kat, look at me.”
Our gazes clash, and I reach for her, only to have her step back. The pain radiating from her eyes steals my breath.
“I love you. There’s nothing between me and Sasha. I promise you,” I whisper. “I don’t have time to mess around. Not between swimming practice and focusing on my studies.”
“I saw you together, at the hotel. I checked the security footage. You were both there.”
Her eyes swim with tears, and a crushing pain forms in my chest.
She shakes her head, her arms wrapping around her waist as she says the words that shatter my world.
“I’m sorry, Jax, I don’t believe you.”
Kat’s expression tells me she’s serious.
That day, my stupid pride and insecurities had me turn and walk away.
I’d wandered for hours, wracking my brains, trying to understand what had happened. Yes, I’d seen Sasha at the hotel that day. It was the same day I’d met Dillon Myers formy apprenticeship interview. Robert had arranged the meeting and sworn me to secrecy.
Sasha had already been there when I arrived. She was an old friend of Emma, Dillon’s daughter. They’d gone to boarding school together. But why would Kat think we were together? Apart from overhearing Sasha’s affirmation.
Shit!
I’d returned to our apartment in a daze, half expecting Elijah to burst into my room, beat me senseless, and then throw me out onto the street. Instead, he returned home, striking up conversation as if nothing had happened.
I realised then, Kat hadn’t said anything to him. Zach looked at me and asked if everything was okay. I’d simply shrugged it off, while inside I was broken. Kat had not believed me.
Off the backof that one conversation, and bad timing, sixteen years of animosity have ensued.
