Page 40 of Fated Shot

“I’m assuming your parents don’t know how he really is?”

“Uh, not really.” I can feel myself shutting down, curling inward. This isn’t a conversation I’ve even dared to have with myself, let alone someone else. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, struggling to find a comfortable stance. “It’s okay though, it’s no biggie, I’m all good.” I try to give my best reassuring smile.

“You don’t have to do that, Mia.”

“Do what?” I ask, avoiding his gaze and taking a sip from my cup.

“Cover up what you’re really feeling. What’s really going on. I want to know.”

“I’m not.”Lie. Why is this so hard? I let out a bit of a frustrated sigh.

“It’s just… it’s not exactly light and fun. Honestly, it’s not even worth getting into. I’m good,really.”Another lie. I just can’t face the truth of what I’ve been feeling. Somehow saying it out loud to someone else feels even scarier.

“Yeah, well, honestly, Mia, there’s zero chance I can walk away from this—so we might as well talk through it.”

My heart skips a beat as his words sink in.Zero chance I can walk away from this.

“What do you mean—”

“Look, I tried. I told you I can’t get you out of my head, and I don’t want to,” he says, his gaze softening with a tenderness that makes my chest tighten. “So I want to hear anything you’re willing to share.”

It’s tough to look at him. He’s got a presence that should be insanely intimidating, but instead, it’s encouraging, comforting, and calm.

It’s so embarrassing. At every turn, I come off as weak and needing saving, but he’s seen enough. The least I can do is continue barreling down the path and connect some dots for him. So before I can help myself, the words just pour out of me.

“We were together for three years, I met him at the beginning of my sophomore year. He was my Econ TA.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah, he had just graduated and had a job lined up at an investment firm in the new year, so he was just teaching for the semester. He really pursued me hard and then wanted me to move in like right away. Said the thirty-minute commute to mydorm would be too much of a strain on our relationship. Slowly, I guess, I just… lost myself. I didn’t know any better.” I wait for any response, but Jack just sits quietly, listening.

“My parents have always liked him, he’s always really charming with them. He has a great job and his own apartment in Manhattan. I think they felt like he could take care of me. He promised them he would, too. When they moved away, I was really lonely, and I think I just clung to him even harder.” Still no reply, he lets me continue, listening intently. Too far gone now…

“Sometimes he would just… snap. But it was usually because of something I did wrong. Little things, like if I got home late from class and forgot to update him, or if I couldn’t go out with him because I was busy with orders. It just got worse over time, and I think slowly, I just started following what he said, like… like orders.

“I was just so caught up in him, I didn’t even care. I would just try harder to make sure I didn’t get him angry.” I shake my head as I think back. God, I can’t even remember who I was back then; she feels like a stranger. I wish I could just go back and shake some sense into myself. How did I put up with that for so long?

“He really hated my baking, too, always called it my pointless hobby.” I nearly laugh at the absurdity of the statement, but choke it down. “I almost stopped. He didn’t want me working anyway…” I trail off, feeling the anger simmering beneath the surface, waiting to boil over. “I just wanted to keep going, to try to make a business out of it, but he kept telling me to grow up and be realistic about my future.”

My throat tightens as I swallow down the lump forming there. Everything I’ve worked so hard for, everything I’ve built, would have been for nothing if I had stayed.

“I had a final that I ended up finishing super early, came home, and I found him—” I pause as my stomachtwists into knots. I feel like I’m going to throw up, my face blazing with a mix of shame and rage. I clamp my mouth shut, forcing the sensation back down.

“Well, he was cheating on me.”

This time, I glance at him, and I can see the anger flooding over his face. He’s clenching his mug so hard I’m afraid it might crack, but he doesn’t say anything. He just lets me continue, his eyes full of understanding,

“I felt like I could handle the anger, but the cheating…” My voice falters. It made me feel like I wasn’t enough for him. Like I was so severely lacking as a woman that he had to step out on me. Like I was absolutely worthless. “Well, I just couldn’t get over it.”

He leans in closer, his brows furrowed in concern. “You didn’t deserve that, Mia.”

“I know that now,” I admit. “I left, and as soon as I did, it was like snapping out of a fog. I realized I was so much happier without him.” I shrug, trying to downplay the significance, but my voice betrays me. “I wanted space, and it was the perfect time for a fresh start. He’s been trying to get back together ever since,” I continue, unable to stop rolling my eyes at the insanity of it all. “I’ve forgiven him, I guess, but I felt like, I don’t know, I owed him a friendship after all the time we were together.”

“You don’t owe that asshole anything,” he states clearly, his tone firm, leaving no room for doubt. “I can’t believe he was always that abusive.”

“No, he’s—he’s actually never touched me,” I quickly clarify, surprised at my defensive tone. He’d get in my face, sure, but it’s not like he ever actually hit me or anything.

“What he did was enough, Mia.” His voice softens, but the seriousness in his eyes cuts through me.

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