Page 87 of I Just Want to be Yours

“He really said it was nothing?”

I frown. “Yeah.”

“And you believe him?”

Letting out a sigh, I turn the phone down and set it on my stomach, clasping it in my hands like a diary. “I think I might.” I shake my head. “I don’t know what to think. The asshole had me laughing by the end of the call when he was supposed to be feeling my wrath.”

Rae arches an eyebrow. “How did he manage that?”

I shrug. “Something about becoming an accountant.”

She laughs. “He would die.”

A small smile comes to my lips. “That’s what I said.”

She watches me carefully. “Well, if you believe him, is he forgiven?”

My brows pinch as I consider her question. With a sigh, I force myself to sit upright. “If I believe him, there’s nothing to forgive.”

Sitting more fully on my bed, Rae pulls her knees to her chest and rests her chin on them. “But you’re still upset.”

It’s not a question, and something about her observation pulls my tears back to the surface. I had done so well, holding back until I was off the phone with Jackson. I let myself cry when I was lying in my room alone, but even that didn’t last long. Now, having Rae look at me with concern laced in her features, I can’t hold it in anymore.

It only takes half a second for her to register my crumpling face, her eyes widening. “Hey, hey, hey.” She moves closer so we’re side by side and wraps her arm around me. “If he said it was nothing, I’m sure it was. Jackson is crazy about you.”

I itch my nose and wipe away a falling tear. “Yeah, but he wouldn’t have told me about this if I never saw those photos. Now all I can think about is what else he hasn’t mentioned. What else has happened that he dismissed as being nothing?”

Rae’s silence makes me look over at her.

“What would you do?” I ask.

“Oh, I’d murder Matt.” When I laugh, she goes on to say, “But Matt isn’t in an up-and-coming band gaining more and more attention. This is kind of an occupational hazard, isn’t it?”

Looking up, I wipe beneath my eyes. “Yeah. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to date him.” I shake my head. “I knew I’d end up here, crying over him and feeling like an idiot. I knew long distance was a bad idea, but he can be so damn convincing.”

“Because he’s crazy about you.”

I give her a leveling look, and she laughs.

“He is! He can be so convincing because he cares about youso much.”

I scoff. “He has a funny way of showing it.” I gesture to my phone lying on my bed. The screen is dark, but the photos willbe there as soon as I unlock it, ready for me to torture myself all over again.

Rae rubs my back. “Don’t look at those pictures again. Block her if you have to. Delete whatever screenshots you have. Jackson is honest about everything. You’ve caught him in one small lie of omission, and if you believe him when he says nothing happened, then that’s it, right?”

I nod but then turn to face her. “But what if this was a mistake? What if he has no business having a girlfriend right now? And what if I have no business dating someone with his lifestyle?”

Rae’s eyes search mine, her face sobering. “Is that really how you feel?”

“It was in the beginning.”

“And now?”

I grimace. “I don’t know.”

Rae’s eyebrows shoot up, and she blows out a breath. “Well, there’s no rush. This is all too fresh for you to make any big decisions based on it. Sleep on it and try to get back into your normal routine with him. See how you feel after a few days.”

I nod and take a deep breath.

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