LOGINTara’s POV
I flung myself on my bed as the video call ended. I couldn't believe I had just seen a torso with my two eyes and not in a movie.
I had just met this stranger, and my heart was already beating like crazy. The image of those abs was burned into my mind, defined, perfect, exactly the kind of body that made girls lose their minds. I couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop picturing what the rest of him looked like.
I couldn't help but go to the bathroom to splash water on my face. My cheeks were flushed, my breathing was uneven. What was wrong with me? I was acting like some desperate teenager who had never seen a guy before. But there was something about him, something that made my pulse race.
Jasper’s POVI walked out of Xavier’s room and quietly closed the door behind me, leaning against the hallway wall for a moment to collect my thoughts.Xavier was absolutely devastated. I’d never seen him like that before, so broken, so hopeless. Sure, we’d both been through our share of heartbreak and disappointment over the years, but this was different. This was deeper.The mysterious girlfriend, I thought to myself as I headed toward my own room. It had to be her. The girl Xavier had been so secretive about, the one he’d been in love with for months but wouldn’t tell me anything about. Something must have happened tonight. Maybe she broke up with him. Maybe she rejected him. Whatever it was, it had completely shattered him.I felt guilty for not being able to help more. But how could I help when Xavier wouldn’t even tell me who the girl was or what had actually happened? All I could do was be there for him and hope that was enough.I got ready for bed mechanically, my mind still o
Xavier’s POVThe moment the hotel room door slammed shut behind Tara, something inside me snapped.I grabbed the nearest thing I could find, a lamp on the bedside table and hurled it across the room. It shattered against the wall with a satisfying crash, but it didn’t make me feel any better.I swept everything off the desk in one violent motion. My hands found the chair, and I lifted it, smashing it against the ground over and over until one of the legs broke off. The sound of destruction filled the room, but it couldn’t drown out the memory of Tara’s face when she’d ripped off my mask.The betrayal in her eyes. The hurt. The anger.“I’ve lost her,” I said to the empty room, my voice breaking. “I’ve lost her forever.”I sank onto the edge of the bed, my head in my hands, trying to breathe through the pain crushing my chest. But then the anger surged back, hot and vicious.This was Jane’s fault.If Jane hadn’t followed me here, if she hadn’t called Tara over and over, if she hadn’t g
Tara’s POVMy mind was spinning, trying to make sense of what Jane had just said. Room 247. That was this room. The room I was in right now with Jake.But that couldn’t be right. Jane must have made a mistake. She must have gotten the wrong room number.“Jane,” I said, my voice shaking slightly. “What room number did you say?”“247,” Jane repeated clearly. “I saw Xavier go into room 247. Tara, I’m not making this up. I followed him here because I needed to talk to him, and I saw him go into that exact room.”I looked around the hotel room, my eyes landing on the number on the back of the door. 247.My heart started pounding harder. This had to be a coincidence. It had to be.“Okay, so Xavier is in this hotel,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe he’s in a different room on a different floor. Maybe you saw the number wrong.”“I didn’t see it wrong,” Jane insisted. “Tara, I can even describe what he’s wearing. A black jacket, dark jeans, and…..”Th
Xavier’s POVI felt my jaw clench with irritation as Tara’s phone rang again. Jane had been calling all evening, over and over, completely disregarding the fact that Tara clearly didn’t want to talk. Who did that? Who kept calling someone repeatedly when they obviously weren’t answering?The selfishness of it made my blood boil. Couldn’t Jane understand that Tara had a life outside of their friendship? That maybe, just maybe, Tara was busy with something important?Like being here with me.But then Tara answered, and I tried to push down my annoyance. At least now Jane would say whatever she needed to say and leave us alone.“Jane, this better be important. Do you know what time it is?” Tara said, her voice sharp with irritation that mirrored my own feelings.I couldn’t hear what Jane was saying on the other end, just the muffled sound of her voice through the phone. Tara was sitting up now, the sheet wrapped around her, and I could see her expression changing as she listened.“What a
Tara’s POVJake was still trying to explain why he was wearing the mask, his words coming out in a rush like he was afraid I’d walk away before he finished. But I couldn’t focus on what he was saying. My mind was too full of everything that had happened today: Sarah in the hospital, Tony’s kiss, the guilt sitting heavy in my chest.“Jake,” I said, reaching out and gently tapping his arm to stop him mid-sentence. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain right now.”He looked surprised, his eyes visible through the mask showing confusion. “Are you sure? I thought you’d want to know why I….”“I’m sure,” I interrupted softly. “Can we just… have dinner? I’ve had a really long day and I just want to be with you. We can talk about the mask later.”Jake studied my face for a moment, and I could tell he was trying to figure out if I was really okay or just pretending. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. Let’s get dinner then.”We made our way to the hotel restaurant, and Jake had apparently already made a
Tara’s POVI sat in the back of the cab, my mind spinning in circles as I stared out the window without really seeing anything. My fingers kept touching my lips, still feeling the ghost of Tony’s kiss there.What had I just done? Why had I kissed him back?The guilt crashed over me in waves, mixing with confusion and shame. I was on my way to meet Jake, Jake, and now I’d just kissed someone else hours before our meeting.I should have insisted that Jasper come with me to Tony’s place. If Jasper had been there, none of this would have happened. Tony wouldn’t have kissed me, and I wouldn’t have this awful guilt sitting heavy in my chest.But I’d respected Jasper’s boundaries when he said he didn’t want to come. I’d gone alone. And now everything was a mess.I was so lost in my spiraling thoughts that I didn’t even realize we were pulling up to my house until the driver’s voice snapped me out of it.“Miss? We’re here,” he said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror with concern. “Are you







