I didn’t care though. I had no more warm feelings or thoughts toward Jason. I treated him like a stranger who didn’t exist to me—a pest who wanted attention I didn’t want to give him—and I knew it infuriated him. I just didn’t care.
“Whatever, Brighton Wells was a way better lay than you,” he muttered just loud enough for me to hear over the instrumental break in the song I was listening to.
Part of mereallywanted to turn around and tell him he couldn’t find a clitoris with a flashlight and a road map, and Brighton Wells would forget all about him as soon as the drugs wore out of her system. But I’d already told him I’d never speak to him again, and I wouldn’t.
Not that many people knew it, but I could hold a grudge like the gruffest of Jacobs men. It just took a hell of a lot more to set me off. I had a better handle on my temper, and my emotions. I didn’t often let people get close enough to truly upset me, always holding them at an arm’s length.
I’d learned how to be extremely picky about the company I kept, or at least, I should have learned that by now. Apparently, that lesson had been lost on Jason.
Hindsight being what it was…I could admit being with him was more to fill my time than to actually get fulfillment out of my time with him. One night with Dare was all I needed to show me what I wanted from a guy: and it definitely wasn’t Jason Briggs. I needed someone who could evoke endless desire and awaken my dreams.
Jason didn’t do either of those things for me. It took this weekend for me to wake up and stop playing pretend, but it had been the wake-up call I needed. I was thoroughly done with the entire situation—the relationship, the cheating,him—and had no intention of ever partaking in subpar companionship again.
At least bringing him along had one benefit…and that was getting Dare to see me as something other than the naïve younger sister of his best friend.Hehadn’t seemed to think I was a bad lay.
Jason could say whatever he wanted about me; his shitty comments couldn’t penetrate my happy shield.
It was difficult not to grin as I replayed the rest ofmynight over and over in my head, but I managed to keep my face impassive and bored the entire flight. By the time we landed, Jason had gotten the point—I was over him—and I didn’t give a shit what he had to say about it.
In the wise words of Ariana Grande…Thank you, next.
I’d arranged for Lara to pick us both up from the airport, but I ditched Jason as soon as I could. I figured since he had managed to find his way into Brighton, he could handle calling an Uber.
I cleared customs and was out of the airport long before he was. Tossing my bag in the back seat, I climbed into the front, slamming the door a little harder than usual. I locked it absently and turned to my friend.
“Let’s go, shall we?”
She stared at me like I had six heads. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
“Uh…yourboyfriend?” Her eyebrows had almost disappeared into her hairline as she gestured to the airport like I had lost my ever-loving mind.
“Oh, that. Yeah, I don’t have a boyfriend anymore. I caught him screwing Brighton Wells at my birthday party last night, so…”
“You’re fucking kidding me.TheBrighton Wells?” Lara repeated, her eyebrows arching with surprise. I nodded. “Ouch. What a bitch! Sorry I couldn’t be your plus one. I’d have whooped her ass!”
“Yeah, maybe. But you were busy anyway this weekend, so it’s a moot point.” I sighed. In a lot of ways, Lara would have been the better choice. She wouldn’t have let me spend a minute of this past weekend feeling like an outsider. But if she had accompanied me this trip, I wouldn’t have ended up alone with Dare. “I think I should thank Brighton.”
“Thank her?” Lara glanced at me as if I was crazy.
“For revealing what a snake Jason is.” I shook my head, disappointed I hadn’t seen it. But as pissed and embarrassed as I was about being cheated on, I was…kind of glad it happened.
Although I hadn’t had the best track record with bringing my gorgeous friends around Cal and his friends, Lara had fit right in with them when I’d brought her as my plus one to Coachella. She’d gotten along with my brother and his friends easily, and althoughsomethinghad transpired between her and Killian, she’d never let it interfere with our friendship.
I was thankful. Too many friendships of the past had unraveled when those people realized I wasn’t going to be their golden ticket, that being my friend didn’t automatically equate to being Calum’s friend, or any of the other guys for that matter. Lara cared about none of that.
She had proven to be a supportive and genuinely kind person—myperson. Lara would throw it down for me if she thought I needed it. Time and time again, she had shown me she was more interested inmyfriendship than who my brother was.
The concept of fame wasn’t new to Lara, as she came from a line of talented violinists. Her great-grandmother had been a famous violinist in the 1930s. She’d played for the London Symphony. Her grandmother had fallen into her mother’s footsteps, also playing for the London Symphony for a spell. Her mother hadn’t played professionally, but she’d encouraged Lara’s passion.
Like me, Lara wanted to earn her successes on her own merit, so she wasn’t using her family name or their accomplishments to get ahead. She was using her own talent and drive.
“Girl, I’m so sorry. That’s extremely shitty of him and I amhappyto leave him behind,” Lara said, offering me a look full of sympathy.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked, wondering why we were still stationary. Lara’s grin was full of mischief. She waited a couple more minutes for Jason to come outside, then put the car in drive and pulled away. The look on his face in the rear-view mirror was almost comical. We both cackled.
“You deserve better anyway. Jason is last week’s news.”
