2

Jasmine

“What the fuck!?”

For a second, nobody moved.

The room smelled like sweat and cheap vanilla candles—the type Mia always burned when she studied. Her laptop still sat open on the desk beside the bed, highlighted notes glowing against the screen like some sick joke.

Jason was sprawled across the mattress, his bare chest heaving, one hand gripping Mia’s waist while she ground against him, her eyes still drunk with pleasure.

My best friend and my boyfriend.

Their faces snapped toward the doorway at the same time. Jason’s eyes widened first, panic flooding his expression.

“Jasmine—”

Mia scrambled backward so fast she nearly fell off the bed, clutching the sheet against her chest. Her mascara was smudged beneath her eyes. There was a bruise forming on her neck.

I couldn’t stop looking at it.

Couldn’t stop looking at either of them.

Three years with Jason.

Twelve years with Mia.

It felt as if someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart until it stopped beating.

Suddenly, every strange moment from the past two years came rushing back.

The canceled dates. The unanswered calls. The study sessions that somehow lasted until midnight.

The way Mia always defended him whenever we argued. The way Jason always seemed to know things about my life before I told him.

Things I’d told Mia.

I had spent so much time trusting them that I had never considered that I should be questioning them.

God, I was an idiot.

“Jas, wait—”

A laugh escaped me, one so loud it made him flinch.

“Wait?” I repeated. “You want me to wait?”

Neither of them answered.

For the first time, I noticed how ridiculous they looked. Mia wrapped in a bedsheet. Jason, half-naked, scrambling for his boxers.

Two people who had clearly been caught and hadn’t planned for what came next.

The humiliation hit me so suddenly that it almost knocked the air from my lungs.

Not because he had cheated.

Because they had made a fool out of me.

For how long?

How many times had they looked me in the face afterward?

How many movie nights?

Had they laughed about it when I wasn’t around?

The thought made something cold and ugly settle in my chest.

Mia finally found her voice.

“Jasmine, I can explain—”

I turned to look at her, and she immediately fell silent.

Good.

Because there wasn’t a single explanation on earth that I wanted to hear.

“Twelve years,” I said quietly, my voice sounding distant. “Twelve years of friendship, and this is what you do?”

Tears filled her eyes.

Jason swung his legs off the bed and stood.

“Baby, please—”

“Don’t you fucking baby me,” I gritted out, my eyes stinging. “Both of you make me so fucking sick.”

I turned and walked out.

Behind me, I heard movement, curses, and hurried footsteps.

“Jasmine!” Jason shouted. “Baby, hold on—”

I yanked the front door open.

Cold air hit my face—a feeling that used to ground me, but now felt like mockery.

I barely made it two steps outside before a hand wrapped around my wrist.

“Jas, please—”

“Don’t you fucking touch me!”

I ripped my arm free so violently that it made my shoulder sting.

Tears blurred my vision now, hot and relentless, and I hated that he could see them.

Jason stood there half-dressed and breathless, his hair a mess from her fingers.

My chest tightened so sharply it hurt to breathe.

“So this is the studying?” My laugh came out broken and ugly. “The really important assessment?”

“Jasmine, I—”

I shoved him hard enough to force him back a step.

“My best friend, Jason.” My voice cracked on the words. “Of all people... how could you do this to me?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

For once, he had nothing to say.

“I trusted you,” I whispered. “I trusted her.”

Jason dragged a hand through his hair.

“Baby, listen to me. It was a mistake.”

A mistake?

The word hit something raw inside me.

I looked at him slowly.

“How long?”

His face changed instantly, and that hesitation told me everything before he even spoke.

“Jas—”

“How long have you been fucking her, Jason!?”

He swallowed hard, his eyes dropping for a second.

“Two years,” he answered, his voice barely above a whisper.

The silence lasted only a second, but it felt like an eternity.

“Two years.”

I stared at him.

The words didn’t register at first.

Two years?

More than half of our relationship.

A strange sound escaped me.

A moment later, I realized I was laughing.

Not because anything was funny, but because if I didn’t laugh, I was going to fall apart right there on the sidewalk.

While he kissed me.

While she called me her sister.

While I trusted them both with everything.

I looked at Jason and suddenly couldn’t recognize the man standing in front of me.

The person I loved would never have done this.

Maybe he had never existed at all.

“Baby, please—”

My hand flew to his cheek, landing a harsh slap.

His head snapped to the side, his skin instantly turning a violent shade of red.

He held his cheek, irritation flashing across his face.

“You know this is all your fault,” he said suddenly. “If you hadn’t starved me all these years, maybe I wouldn’t have crawled into your best friend’s bed for sex.”

A ghostly laugh escaped my lips.

“Oh, so now you’re blaming me for your infidelity?”

I tightened my grip on the Victoria’s Secret bag and scoffed.

“And to think I had everything planned out.”

He paused, his brows furrowing.

“What do you mean by that?”

I took a few steps toward him and stopped.

“Jason, I just want to say thank you for stopping me. God, I can’t believe I actually wanted to give myself to you today.”

His eyes widened.

“What?”

I shook my head.

“You know what, Jason? Fuck you,” I spat, hurling the bag at his chest.

“And fuck her.”