If he’s texting with Anvil, it means he’s purposely avoiding me. I don’t understand it. Why would he do that?
“Here, I’ll show you,” Anvil adds, whipping out his cell phone.
Cay loops her arm through mine, confirming she fears the worst too.
“It seems he’s having a blast in London. All the ladies love his American accent,” he says, shoving his cell in my face.
Pain eviscerates me on all sides as I stare at the picture through stinging eyes. It was obviously taken at a party or a bar because the lighting is low and there is a crowd in the background who appears to be dancing. But it’s the foreground image that is laying siege to my heart and making it difficult to breathe. Jared has his arms around two stunning brunettes, one girl on either side of him. His grin is wide, his face bleeding happiness, as if he hasn’t a care in the world. The girls are smiling at the camera like it’s Christmas morning and they’ve just unwrapped a surprise gift.
Bile swims up my throat, and an anguished cry escapes my lips as I shuck out of Cay’s embrace and flee to the bathroom.
I barely make it to the stall in time, bending over the toilet and throwing up. Tears roam freely down my face as I expel the meager contents of my stomach. Pain stabs me repeatedly in the heart, and the crushing pain in my chest is so severe it feels like I’m having a coronary.
“Here.” Cay hands me a wad of tissues when I finish vomiting, leaning over me with concern etched on her pretty face. I hadn’t even heard her come in.
Slumping on the floor, I lean against the wall and sob.
My bestie joins me, stretching her legs out as she folds one arm around me. “It might not be as bad as it looks.”
I bark out a bitter laugh. “I think it’s exactly how it looks.”
“Jared isn’t the cheating type, and he’s devoted to you. I bet there’s an explanation.” She pauses for a few beats. “But if there isn’t, if that’s legit what it looked like, I’m plotting a gruesome death for him and finding you some prime eye candy to hook up with and rub his nose in it.”
“He’s changed his mind.” Defeat underscores my tone as I rub my eyes. I’m fucking pathetic. Crying over a guy who has tossed me aside so easily. “He lied to me. I bet he never had any intention of coming back for me. He said what he knew I needed to hear and enough to let me know he arrived safe, and now he’s cut all ties.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
I clamber to my feet. “It makes perfect sense now. He’s deliberately not talking to me. He must have blocked my cell and my emails. He’s moving on with his life, and he doesn’t give a fuck what it’s doing to me.”
Cayenne stands. “You don’t really believe that.”
“If you’d asked me yesterday, I would have loyally defended him, but that photo paints a very different picture.” My lower lip wobbles, and I’m fighting tears again. “I never would have thought him capable of such betrayal, such cruelty, but there is no other explanation.” My hands ball into fists at my side. “I’m such a fool. It’s obvious all his loving words were lies. He was probably cheating on me when he was here. Heisbest friends with Anvil after all.”
Hurt splays across Cay’s face, and I feel like a bitch. “Sorry,” I whisper, taking her hand. “That was low. I didn’t mean it.”
“I know you didn’t, and it’s not like you’re lying. Anvilwascheating on me, and I enabled it by constantly forgiving him. I just can’t believe Jared would be so deceitful. It doesn’t seem to be in his nature.”
“We didn’t know him, Cay. We only knew the side he showed us.”
Slowly, she shakes her head. “I’m not buying it. Youdoknow him. You’ve known him your entire life. He wouldn’t do this to you.”
“I want to believe that. I want to believe everything we shared and everything I know about him to be true, but how do I dispute that photo? You saw it. He looks happy. He’s not moping around miserable like I am. I always suspected my feelings were greater than his. He was going off with other girls for years before we got together when I couldn’t even look at another guy because they weren’t him.”
“He told you he was terrified of ruining your friendship and he didn’t think you returned his feelings, especially when you didn’t seem bothered when he kissed someone else. Do you think he made all that up?”
“I don’t know,” I say, exiting the stall. Classes have already commenced, so the bathroom is empty, thankfully. We’ll be reprimanded for skipping class, but I couldn’t care less. The last thing I need is this getting out at school. I’ll be the biggest laughingstock. I wouldn’t put it past Anvil to share that photo because he’s a prick. Most girls in our grade dislike me because I snared Jared. This will only give them ammunition to gloat, and my life will become even more unbearable.
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” I say over a sigh. “The Jared I thought I knew would never have abandoned me like this. To think I was worried his parents had done something to him.” I scoff as I wash and dry my hands and then rinse my mouth out with water. “I’m the biggest idiot. I can’t believe I gave him my V-card. Maybe that’s what it was all about. He just wanted sex, and after he got it, he moved on.”
“You need to talk to him. He’s the only one who can confirm the truth.”
“How?” I throw my hands in the air as I turn to face my friend. “How can I speak to him when he doesn’t answer my calls, texts, social media messages, or emails? And I won’t be sending any more. Not now I know he’s out partying and hooking up with other girls. Only a moron would continue chasing a guy who clearly wants nothing more to do with her.”
I rub a hand across the tightness in my chest, smothering another wave of tears. “How do I come back from this, Cay? He’s the one, and I’ve lost him. My heart is broken, and I don’t know how to go on without him. He’s been a huge part of my life for so long, and now there’s this big dark void, and I fear it’s sucking me in and going to suffocate me.” Despite my resolve, wracking tears burst from my mouth as I fall apart in my best friend’s arms. “It hurts so much.” I push the words past the messy ball of emotion clogging my throat. “It feels like I’m dying.”
“I’m so sorry, babe.” Cay hugs me close. “This is the worst part, but it will get better.”
ChapterSeven
