Page 30 of Only Forever

By the time I heard Jason come back, I felt numb. I almost felt detached from my body, like I was watching from the outside. But that didn’t stop the sharp stab of pain when I saw Jason’s smiling face. Maybe I wasn’t as numb as I thought. I forced myself to build a mental and emotional wall between us. Otherwise, I didn’t think I would survive.

Jason’s smile immediately dropped when he saw my face. “What’s wrong?”

I glanced at this phone that was now sitting silent on the table. “You got a phone call while you were gone.” I couldn’t stop my voice from trembling.

Jason’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Okay. Who was it?” He reached over to grab his phone and look at his call list.

“Shelby.”

“Is that her number?” he asked. “Why would she call me?”

I wanted to claw the innocent-looking expression off his face. How could he lie to me with seemingly no remorse? As disgusting as they both were, at least Shelby had wanted to tell me the truth.

“I don’t know, Jason,” I replied coldly. “Whywouldshe call you?”

“I’m confused,” he said, continuing to look innocent. “What’s happening? What did she say?”

It was so obvious he was trying to find out if Shelby had told me anything. It made me sick. Jason looked like a different person to me now. I used to feel safe with him. I thought he would never do anything to hurt me. That he cherished me. How could I have been so wrong?

“You want to know what she said?” I laughed bitterly. “What do you think she said?”

“Daphne, tell me what’s wrong.” Jason’s expression was worried. “You’re acting strange.”

My eyes narrowed. “Anyone would be acting a little strange if they found out their boyfriend fucked their best friend.”

“What??” Jason looked shocked. “What are you talking about?? That never happened!”

I put my hand up. I didn’t want to hear his lies. It would just make everything more painful. “I don’t wait to hear your denials. It’s so pathetic. I just want to know why you did it.” I was unable to keep my composure, and my voice broke. “Why did you pretend you loved me?”

Jason kneeled in front of me, grabbing my hands and putting them against his chest. I could feel his heart beating rapidly. “Daphne, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nothing has happened between me and Shelby.”

I ripped my hands out his grasp. “I don’t believe you,” I hissed, my eyes filling with tears. “She told me everything.” The numbness I had been feeling disappeared, and I felt like there was a large gaping hole in my heart. I wanted to hurt Jason like he had hurt me. My mind raced to think of what could hurt him the most.

“It doesn’t matter anyways,” I said, forcing my voice to calm. “I was only with you because of your mom.”

Jason’s eyebrows drew in sharply together, his expression darkening. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” I said patronizingly, “the only reason I agreed to start dating you was because I felt bad about your mom being sick. I couldn’t reject your feelings when your mom was on her deathbed. I was just trying to figure out how to break up with you now that that she’s better, and you gave me the perfect opportunity.”

I knew I should feel disgusted with myself for what I was saying about his mom, but I was beyond caring. I wanted Jason’s heart to bleed like mine was. It was only fair.

Jason drew back from me, like I had slapped him. “Daphne, why are you doing this? I know that’s not true.”

I stood up abruptly, walking away from him. I didn’t want to be near him anymore. I just wanted him to go away, so I was as cruel as possible.

“It’s true,” I said, crossing my arms against my chest, trying to put as many barriers between us as possible. “How could I refuse your feelings when you were boohoo’ing about your mom. And I was tired of being a virgin, so I figured you were good enough to lose it with than anyone else.” I cocked my head. “Youwere pretty good at it too, so that’s why I kept you around, even after your mom got better. But now that I know you’re a cheater, there’s no point in us being together.”

Jason stood up slowly, his expression cold. But I could still see the despair in his eyes. “You have to just be saying this because you think I cheated on you. But I swear nothing happened between me and Shelby. I don’t know why she would tell you that. But she’s lying.”

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to feign nonchalance while my insides were being torn apart. “It really doesn’t matter what you and Shelby did or didn’t do. I just don’t want to be with you, Jason. I don’t love you.” I looked him straight in the face, my tone frigid. “I never did. I just said it back to you because it was easy. Let’s just call it even between us and call it quits. I never want to see you again.” I didn’t know how much longer I could put up this act. I just wanted to collapse on the floor and sob my eyes out.

Jason’s expression was thunderous. “I’m supposed to believe that you’re that good of an actress? There’s no way you could have been faking your feelings for me. They’re real.”

I smiled at him cruelly. “The only thing that was real were my orgasms. I have to admit, you’re pretty good at fucking. But everything else was fake.”

“Daphne.”

Jason’s face drained of all color. His fury seemed to dissipate, and he just looked sad. He had only said my name, but that one word was so full of despair that I felt like sobbing. How had we gotten here?

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