Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

I smirked, cutting Jace off before he could even finish his sentence. “Don’t tell me you mistook her for me.

“I…” Jace’s mouth hanging open as he stared at me.

But I didn’t let him off that easy. “Let’s be real–how many times have you actually kissed me?”

His expression turned stormy.

We’d been together for over three years. Sure, we held hands and hugged, but when it came to real, passionate kissing? It almost never happened. And when it did, it was always something chaste–a kiss on the hand, cheek, or forehead. If our lips ever touched, it was just a quick, barely– there peck.

My words hit him hard, and I could see the frustration boiling over. He suddenly let go of me, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I was an idiot who got caught up in the moment and kissed her. But it didn’t mean anything.” 1

“Oh, so it only counts if you sleep with her?” I retorted sarcastically.

Jace was on the edge of losing it. “Is that what you think of me? If I was that kind of guy, don’t you think I would’ve slept with you a long time ago? Do you really think we’d be like this right now if I had?” 1

I paused, then let out a laugh. So, what, he was saying that if we’d slept together, I’d just let him off the

hook?

What kind of backward thinking was that? Did he really believe we were stuck in some outdated world where a girl’s worth depended on one guy? 1

I didn’t even bother with that nonsense. Instead, hit him where it hurt. “But you were not into me, weren’t you? That’s why we never slept together.”

His words, the ones that had once cut me so deep, were now my sharpest weapon against him.

Jace’s pupils contracted. “Rea, is this really something we can’t move past?”

“We already have,” I reminded him. “We broke up. You’re the one clinging to the past, making me bring it up again and again.”

“Broke up?” Jace sneered. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You broke up with me just so you could run off to that lighting guy. You’ve been involved with him for a while now. You were living together in Chiverton, weren’t you?”

I wasn’t surprised he knew about Chiverton–his mom had already brought it up. But I didn’t expect him to twist it into thinking Hayden and I had been involved for ages.

“Believe what you want,” I said coolly. “But I met him after we broke up–unlike you, who made a move on your close friend Desmond’s wife while he was still alive.” I wasn’t about to let Jace’s baseless

accusations go unchecked.

I could see that bringing up his affair with Tanya hit a nerve. Whether it was guilt or something else, it definitely rattled him.

“So now you’re defending him, keeping him around because you want to mix business with pleasure, right?

”

Jace had a real talent for twisting things to suit his narrative.

“Think whatever helps you sleep at night,” I replied, not even bothering to deny it.

Jace’s face turned a sick shade of green. “I can make him disappear from the industry right now. You know that, right?”

“Mm–hmm, I believe you,” I said, locking eyes with him. “But if he goes, I go. If he disappears, I’m disappearing with him.”

“You…” Jace pointed at me.

“Jace, you’re the one who threw down the betrayal card. You’re the one who claimed you’d had enough because we knew each other too well. Now that I’m giving you exactly what you wanted, you still come back to pester me. Don’t you think that’s beneath you?” I was done protecting his ego.

“Pester you? I’m trying to stop you from making a huge mistake. You have no idea how twisted men can be,” Jace said, yanking at his collar.

“I don’t need to imagine it. You’ve already shown me,” I shot back, stopping him dead in his tracks. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at me, like he couldn’t believe I saw him for who he really

was. But I wasn’t about to let this drag on any longer. I cut through the tension. “Let me make this clear: as long as Hayden Hart’s here, so am I. If you so much as try to transfer him or pull any other stunts, I’ll follow him.”

With that, I turned on my heel and walked away, not bothering to look back as Jace’s hand dropped in defeat.

I didn’t see the look in his eyes, either–the one that said he’d just lost everything. Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.