Page 46 of Cross My Heart

“Hey, babe.” A man’s hand lands on his shoulder, and I tense. “There you are.”

Noah turns around with a grin, and my heart stops dead in my chest. He clearly knows this man who called him babe. But no. That can’t be right. Right?

No, no,no.

Handsome with his blond hair and green eyes, the exact opposite of me. His hair is cut military-style as well, and you can tell he’s a soldier by the muscles on him. He just has that look. And of course he does, because where the hell else would he meet another man?

Noah turns to me and flashes me an apologetic smile. “This is Jeremiah.” I narrow my eyes on Noah’s. “My boyfriend.”

One fucking word shouldn’t be the end of my world, but somehow it is. I can feel my heart shattering into a million pieces. I can feel myself trying to stop it, holding onto the shards until my hands turn bloody, but they splatter to the ground anyway. Scarlett grabs my hand, digging her fingernails into my skin painfully, and I jump.

“So nice to meet you, Jeremiah!” Scarlett says, and my nostrils flare. Of course she would be happy about this. “It’s about time Noah brought home a boyfriend. Right, honey?”

“Right.” I nod once. “Nice to meet you.”

Jeremiah’s eyes narrow slightly as if he can sense my energy is just…off. But I don’t give a fuck. Let him know how in love I am with his boyfriend. The thought of them fighting over me brings me a deep sense of satisfaction, and when I look at Noah, his lips are stretched into a thin, fake smile. Oh well, serves him right for doing this in the first place.

“Is this the first time he’s brought a guy home?” Jeremiah asks, but I’m still looking at Noah. I can feel Jeremiah’s gaze on my face though.

“Yes, it is!” Scarlett says that cheerfully, and for the first time in my life, I actually want to claw her eyes out. “He never brings anyone. You might even be his first real boyfriend.”

“Oh, baby,” Jeremiah says, his hand squeezing Noah’s shoulder. My eyes focus on the movement, and when I look up, this fucker’s eyes are trained on me, a smirk on his lips. “You didn’t tell me that.” But he’s looking at me as he says it, and at this moment I know he knows there’s something between Noah and me. I also know he’s going to try to make me jealous for the rest of the night.

“It never came up.” Noah shrugs and looks up at Jeremiah, and for one split second, he really does look in love.

That is, until he looks back at me and I can tell he’s faking this. I don’t know how I know, but I do. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve known him for thirteen years. Or maybe it’s the look on his face when he gazes at me. But he’s still mine.

That much I do know.

Oh, andfuckJeremiah.

“So, how did you meet each other?” Scarlett asks cheerfully, and I look over at her. She has the brightest smile on her face as if this brings her joy, and my eyes sting with unshed tears. She narrows her eyes on me, then shifts her attention back to Jeremiah. I look over at Noah, and his eyes are trained on her too. “Tell us all about it!”

Noah is quiet, but Jeremiah gets right to it. “We’re in the same unit. He was my friend before we became more.” He shrugs, and I scoff. Because he can’t be best friends with Jeremiah. He’smybest friend. I’mhis. “And I don’t know. One day it just happened. We’ve been together for six months.”

Six months.

It’s been eight months since my wedding, and he moved on two months after? Just like that? As if we never happened? As if I was just a blip in his existence? Forgettable.

But Noah smiles up at him, and my heart breaks a little more. Mostly because it’s a genuine smile. And it guts me.

He’s my everything. Everything that was missing. Everything I’d been looking for. I found it in him.

And he’s just going to throw it all away.

He already did.

Jeremiah leans down and presses a kiss to Noah’s lips, and I look away. I can’t do this. My heart can’t take it.

So I excuse myself and go to the bathroom.

A minute or so later, there’s a knock at the door. I open it to find Noah on the other side of it. Before I can think better of it, I haul him into the bathroom and lock the door behind me. And then I’m on him, shoving him against the wood. Cradling his face between my hands. Pressing my lips to his soft ones.

Except this time, he pushes me away.

Hard.

I stumble back a few steps, a frown on my face.

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