Page 48 of Always? Forever.
No. No. No. She was anything but.
I shook my head, reached out, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Absolutely not,” I said, steady and firm. “You are not crazy. You’re the only sane one in that whole mess. Are we clear?”
She gave me a hesitant nod, the kind you give when you're still learning how to trust your own instincts again.
“What happened after that?” I asked, my voice low. “Did he kiss her?”
She let out this laugh, sharp, bitter, not amused. “I never found out. That night we fought like hell. I think if I wasn’t so painfully in love with him, I would’ve left. But I didn’t. I stayed. And that was the day I started mentally checking out of the relationship. He didn’t care how I felt. Because if he did… he wouldn’t have done that. You don’t hurt the people you love. Not like that.”
She gulped. There was this haunted look in her eyes, like she was still bleeding from a wound no one else could see. I didn’t realize my fist had clenched until she looked down at it. Her hand reached over, slowly, and wrapped her fingers around mine. Gentle. Sure. Like she was reminding me she was still here.
Her hand fit perfectly in mine. Like maybe this, whatever this was, we were always supposed to find our way here.
She smiled at me, small but real.
“I know it sounds silly, but I’ve never been able to shake this feeling that hedidcheat on me with her. Even after we broke up. There was something in the way she looked at me at their office party the very next day… Like she was wearing a secret I didn’t know. Like she was proud of it. I know I sound insane but—”
“You don’t,” I said, cutting her off gently, cupping her face again. “You’re not insane. If you feel it happened, I believe you. I believe you without a doubt. You don’t need to explain it to me.”
She nodded into my hands, just the tiniest bit, then leaned into my chest like she was finally letting herself rest.
A second passed. Then another.
And then, almost like an afterthought, she whispered, “If that wasn’t enough… he once told Aria,my best friend, that her eyes were as deep as the ocean and one could get lost in them.”
I blinked. “He saidwhat?”
“Exactly.” She laughed, for real this time, shaking her head. “Like who says that? To their girlfriend’s best friend?!”
I didn’t laugh. I couldn’t. I just stared at her, horrified.
That made her laugh harder. “That’s the face I needed. Thank you.”
But even with the laughter, her pain clung to the edges of her voice.
I wanted to hold her and never let her go. I also wanted to find that guy and rearrange his jaw.
Instead, I stayed rational, barely.
“Wait… if you didn’t break up because of that, then whatdidend it?” I asked softly.
She bit her lip, unsure. And suddenly, I felt cold.
Because if allthiswasn’t the worst part… then what the hell was?
Chapter 34
Samaira
I’m not sure if I should tell him. Should I? I mean, Idotrust him. Completely. And if this is going to come out anyway, I’d rather he hear it from me than stumble upon it in some half-baked headline on a gossip site.
“We were just hanging out with our friends, I hadn’t seen any of them in weeks, hadn’t seenhimin days. I missed being around them, missed him too. Aria and I decided to grab coffee from the Starbucks five minutes away. When we went to let the guys know, he got mad. Said I should’ve waited for him. He fought with me, in front ofeveryone. I got pissed too, obviously, and left with Aria. But that wasn’t the end of it.
He followed me, made a whole scene right there on the road. Made mebeg. Made mecry. And even then, he had the audacity to say, ‘I see anger in your eyes.’ That’s when something in me gave out.
Can you believe that? Like sir, my mascara is halfway down my cheeks, andthat’syour analysis? Not the fact that your girlfriend is sobbing in public? That was the moment something in me snapped. Maybe I’d been emotionally checking out for a while, butthatday, I knew for sure, my tears meant nothing to him.
Because when you truly love someone, watching them cry like that, on the street, completely shattered, it should do something to you. It should make you want to stop arguing and just hold them. But he didn’t. He didn’t evenflinch.He wanted to win the fight, not find peace.”
