His features tighten, a sudden, cold indifference settling over his face. And unlike me, his voice is steady when his eyes lock on mine. “Take the hint already. I’m not interested in what you’re selling.”
And just like that, Jase steps forward and shuts the door in my face. He doesn’t slam it, and somehow, that hurts more. There’s no emotion to his actions, like I’m nothing more than an annoying girl scout trying to peddle thin mints.
All I’m left with is Trent’s laughter from the other side of the door, no doubt directed at Jase.“Seriously, are they lettinganyone in this neighborhood now, or did you start running a charity foundation since we left?”
I get as faras the Boynton’s house before tears spill from my eyes, and I make sure to keep my head down. It’s rather pointless, though, since my entire body now shakes with the sobs I’m struggling to hold inside. Not like anyone would notice, let alone care. Blythe was at the house when I left this morning, and I don’t want to risk running into her, so I go to the only other place I can truly be by myself.
Two hours later sitting behind the falls, not much has changed for me. The rushing water muffles my sobs until they dissolve into sniffles, and a steady stream of tears rolls down my face. My eyes are raw and puffy, and the constant crying blurs my vision that it takes me several attempts to blink through the bleariness so that I can read the new text message on my phone.
Jase.
I want to throw my cell against the cavern wall but barely refrain, seeing the message read:
“I am so fucking sorry. Please meet me at our spot. I’ll explain everything.”
Is he kidding?
Jase is coming here? To say what? “I’m too ashamed to be seen with you, so can you settle for being my dirty, dorky little secret?”
Screw that.
No, screwhim.
I won’t let him see me like this. I won’t let him know how deep he cut me. I won’t be reduced to some “charity” case in which he feels obligated to keep humoring me in private.
Scrubbing any trace of tears off my face, I pack my blanket into its bag and tuck it away, ready to leave, when a shadow falls over the terrain not far from the entrance. It moves along and down the slope of the hill until it’s almost directly in front of the cave’s opening. At this point, I’d prefer it to be a ravening wolf or black bear, but the shape of the figure is undoubtedly human.
No.
No, he can’t already be here.
I prepare to retreat as deep into the cave as I can, praying the limited light will obscure my puffy eyes and beat-red nose…
…when I hear a voice from outside, the words muffled by the rushing water.
And it sure as hell isn’t Jase’s.
It belongs to a female.
The same female who had been wearing his shirt a couple of hours ago.
What the fuck?
What the fuck? What the fuck? What the everliving fuck?
Jase brought Sienna Hawthorne toourspot!
No. No, this can’t be happening. Maybe he’s on the phone with her, and the call is set on speaker mode.
I slink forward to the mouth of the cave and steal a look around the bend to see Jase’s back to me…
And Sienna’s arms drape over his shoulders as she leans into him, her chest pressing against his. Whatever she’s saying still can’t be made out over the sounds of the falls, but she’s smiling, practically purring, as she brings her mouth to his.
How is it that I’m still breathing? How is it that I’m still alive? Because my lungs are crushed by the invisible weight slamming down on me, and my heart fractures into a thousand pieces inside my rib cage.
Jase may not have initiated the kiss, but he isn’t doing anything to push her back or break the connection. Every secondthey stay like that is a hammer to my chest, and even aftershepulls away, he doesn’t do anything. Sienna purrs one last thing to him before flouncing out of view, and my knees threaten to buckle as she calls out Trent’s name.
No, no, no!
