“I get that, but what about when you guys kept seeing each other? You could have told me then. I didn’t want Jason to come between us, but I would have been happy to know you two were getting serious.”
“That’s the thing—we weren’t. I wasn’t going to tell you I’d been having casual sex with your brother and lying to you about it, especially when it didn’t mean anything to either of us, at least not until…” I trailed off.
“Until what?”
“Until he made me believe it meant something.” I laughed bitterly. “But that was just Jason Wild making sure I was a notch well and truly added to his belt.”
Her face fell. “I don’t know what to say. I wish I hadn’t said anything at all. I wish I could have kept my mouth shut.”
“It’s not your fault,” I reassured her. “You didn’t mean for anything like this to happen.”
“But it’s my fault you’re mad at Jason, and he’s miserable, Daphne.”
My face hardened. “Don’t talk about him,” I said stonily. “I choose not to care that you told your brother something about me that you shouldn’t have, but I never, ever want to see him or talk about him again.”
She blinked. “Daphne…”
I shook my head. “Don’t even try.” I waited until she nodded, and then I continued. “I talked to Colin earlier. Are you going to stop avoiding him now?”
She opened her mouth. “I don’t—”
“I don’t want you to punish yourself and him because of me.”
Pain scarred her features. “It’s just…it’s so hard to be happy when the people I care about are miserable.”
My breath hitched at the suggestion of Jason’s misery. I didn’t care about him, I reminded myself. I didn’t care how he felt or what his excuses were. “Don’t punish Colin,” I urged calmly. “How does making one more person miserable help any of us?”
“You’re right.” She sighed. “I’ll…I’ll talk to him.”
“That would be great. I think you broke his heart a little just now.”
She was quiet for a moment then reached out and put her arms around me. I hugged her back, my eyes getting misty.
“Thanks for the talk,” she said.
“Any time.” I smiled. “Now, call Colin.”
“Right away, ma’am,” she said with a small laugh.
It felt good to hear her laugh again. I felt good for her, and the feeling lightened some of my misery. As I went to my room, leaving her talking on the phone with Colin, I felt a faint twinge of hope that maybe I could find reasons to be happy, even without Jason.
Chapter Three
Later, when Amy had gone out to see Colin and I was alone in the apartment preparing for bed, my phone rang. At first, my heart surged with the hope that it might be Jason, but then I remembered his number was still blocked.
Zane’s name was flashing on my screen, and with it came memories of the last conversation we’d had on the phone…Jason’s face, his jealousy. Even now, my body turned to liquid when I remembered how he’d fucked me, marked me as his even while I’d been on the phone with Zane.
All that just so he could prove something to himself.
How could I have been so mistaken about him?
I took a deep, calming breath and answered the call.
“What’s up, sexy?”
“I’m great,” I replied, forcing a smile into my voice. “How are you?”
“Thinking a lot about you since the last time we spoke.” He paused. “So, what do you think about dinner, tomorrow night? So we can get to know each other again.”