The Game Changer(87)

After a couple hours of polite conversation and Gran force-feeding us sandwiches, Melissa and I said good-bye. Dean stood on the porch with a pout on his face as he watched us leave. She begged him for some time alone with me, but he claimed he wanted to spend time with me too. They compromised on girl time tonight and Dean time tomorrow. I laughed at their conversation.

“You like them, don’t you?” I asked Melissa as she lowered the car radio.

“They are pretty great. How was your alone time with them? Dean insisted we let you guys talk by yourselves.” She sounded slightly annoyed by Dean’s suggestion.

“I appreciated it,” I admitted, hoping to relieve her irritation. “They’re so awesome. They always seem to know just what to say and how to say it.”

“What did they say this time?” she asked, her eyes focused directly in front of her.

“They talked about the importance of love. And how in the end, it’s all that really matters, and it’s all you have left when everything else is gone.”

“They sound almost as smart as I am,” she said, and I smacked her shoulder with the back of my hand. “Hey!”

I watched as we passed the restaurant where Jack and I had our first date, the quick jolts of pain to my heart reminding me how much I missed him.

“So, did they fix you?”

“I still need to figure out how to find some balance, but all of you are right. Breaking up with Jack won’t solve anything in the long run. I’d regret it eventually, and I’d probably never get over it.”

“You know, Cass, Jack isn’t the only one who changed. I mean, you changed him. But he changed you too. Whether you realize it or not, it’s the truth.”

Hearing Melissa say those words solidified what I’d known for some time. She’d told me the same thing back in college, but it seemed to carry more weight now. I felt like I’d grown up twenty years in the span of the last two.

“You’re right. I honestly can’t imagine my life without him. And I don’t want to.”

“Then you need to stop running away from him when things get rough. You do that a lot, and eventually he’s going to get pissed.”

“I don’t run away,” I sniped defensively.

“Really? You left the state! You’re either running away or shutting him out completely. And both of those things suck.”

I watched the palm trees blur into green streaks across the sky blue backdrop. Melissa was right. “I’ll work on it.” I’d bottled so many of my emotions inside because I didn’t want to burden Jack with them. And I needed to learn how to clear my head with Jack in the picture instead of pushing him out of it.

Melissa’s phone started to ring. “Can you see who it is?”

I grabbed for the phone and noticed Jack’s name flashing across the screen. “It’s Jack.”

“Speak of the devil. Answer it.”

My stomach dropped to the floor. “Hi,” I answered nervously.

“Where’s your phone?” Jack’s voice was tight and agitated.

“I left it in the apartment. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Check it as soon as you get back and then you fucking tell me,” he said tersely.

“Jack? Hello?” I pulled the phone from my ear to look at the screen. “Holy shit, he hung up on me.”

“What’s going on?” Melissa sounded worried.

“I have no idea. He told me to check my phone.” My head started to spin as I wondered what the hell could have happened.





Don’t


Jack

My cell phone beeped, signaling I had a new text message. Instead of a return phone number, the sender was an anonymous e-mail. I considered not opening the message, knowing that nothing good could come from an anonymous source. After a short battle with myself, I clicked the message and a picture popped up.

What the fuck?

Matteo kissing Cassie displayed on my screen and violent urges instantly ripped through my guts. My temper flared as a fire blazed through my every pore. I wanted to tear Matteo’s fucking head off. How dare he put his lips on my girl? How dare he fucking even think about touching her?

But she let him. She wasn’t pushing him away in the picture, she was kissing him back. Fuck, even her goddamn eyes were closed!

I dialed Cassie’s number, but it went straight to voice mail. Again. Where the hell was she? I forwarded the picture message to her cell.

She’d bailed on me in the middle of all the Chrystle drama and now this. How would she explain this? I looked at it, clear as day with my own two eyes. Matteo’s filthy fucking lips stuck to my beautiful Kitten’s. Have I been fooled this whole time?