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And I do…

I see him.

Every muscle in my body goes rigid.

The noise around me fades into nothing.

My pulse pounds violently in my ears, and suddenly I can’t seem to draw a full breath.

Hands trembling, I stare toward a table a little farther to my right.

Zayn’s sitting there.

A blonde woman in a skin-tight red dress is perched comfortably on his lap, the fabric hugging every curve of her toned, sun-kissed body.

She leans close enough to whisper into his ear.

And he’s smiling.

The sight drives a sharp knife straight through my chest.

When I found out my ex cheated on me, I felt nothing. Nothing at all.

But this…

This feels like I’m being pulled apart, one slow piece at a time, and no matter how desperately I try to breathe, my lungs refuse to cooperate.

All this after one night.

One night that clearly meant far more to me than it ever did to him.

She fits effortlessly into his world.

Confident.

Beautiful.

Younger.

Exactly the kind of woman photographers always catch hanging on his arm.

Tonight she’ll probably be the one going home with him.

No hesitation.

No alcohol.

No emotional confusion.

Just another night.

Oh God.

Is he going to bring her back to the apartment?

The possibility never even crossed my mind when I agreed to share it with him.

“Are you ordering or not?” the bartender asks flatly.