Hurt so badly that it felt like his ribs had been shattered. His still beating heart had been torn from his ruined chest and sliced into ribbons while he watched.
How could she say that about me?
Every beautiful memory they’d shared now hacked at him like a blunt blade. Jake decided he was done with this, all of it. Fated mate or not, he was going to forget he’d ever met Casey and move on with his life as if she had never even existed.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
CASEY
She sipped on her wine, her stomach doing flips. It was well past their agreed time to meet. He was supposed to be here two hours ago. Actually, two hours, eight minutes, and three seconds but she wasn't keeping track that well.
They all had eaten and gone through three bottles of wine, two of which she drank herself to keep from crying. She couldn't deny she had a buzz going.
She looked at the door once more, chewing on her inner cheek. He didn't come. Jake didn't come to meet her friends.
He'd ghosted her, and she had no idea why. She couldn't think of anything. They had been getting along splendidly, yet her stomach told her she was missing something.
She knew he had been off the past few days, but she kept thinking it was just something else. Stress from work. She glanced at her phone, seeing the three messages she had sent him.
Hey, are you still coming?
Hey, you running late? I'm getting a little worried.
Did you get hurt? Did something happen? Can you please call me?
She had the fourth message written out, but her finger hovered over the send message. She wasn't sure she wanted to send it.
The last one was longer. She didn't know what to say any more than what she had said.
I'm worried. You said you were coming, but it's been two hours, and you aren't here. Did something happen? Is something wrong? I thought this was what you wanted. To meet my friends.
“Any response?” Lisa asked, taking another sip of her wine. She sat perched on her chair, looking around the space for a second. Her eyes scanned for a guy.
She shook her head, sending the message. What more could she lose?
“Dick,” Sarah grumbled, shaking her head. She pushed her hands onto the table, leaning forward. “You know, you deserve better. No man should just not show.”
“At least he should call,” Lisa said, clicking her tongue. Her eyes finally landed back on Casey. “It's just proper. Doesn't he have manners?”
She wanted everyone to just shut up. She already felt bad enough. She didn't need the extra words. She didn't need her friends telling her how much they disliked him already.
“Maybe I did something,” she said, going over her past week.
“Like what?” Lisa asked, now starting to get angry. “Be too perfect? Please, it's him.”
“You didn't do anything wrong,” Sarah said. “He did. He is the one that didn't show. He could have told you something came up. This is a dick move. Typical too. Men are pigs sometimes.”
Suddenly her phone dinged, and everyone froze. She glanced down, seeing he had finally, two hours later, responded.
Something came up, and I got a business out of town. I won't be back for a couple weeks, if not longer.
That was it. No explanation. No, I'll call you later with the details. Just that.
She frowned. It was odd. Jake always gave details of his business with a timeframe when he would be back. Even when he called, he made sure to put her in his time frame. Even if it was just a thirty-second phone call.
She didn't like it, and she knew something was wrong. Somewhere between now and their last meeting, something had gone wrong.
“What did he say?” Lisa asked, spinning her wine in her glass. Her eyes narrowed, able to read her too well. She couldn't lie.