Page 108 of A Love That Broke Us
I glance over my shoulder to see what’s got his attention.
Fucking Seth.
Seth makes eye contact, surprised, and starts heading our way.
“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath as he approaches.
“Jensen, Matt! How the hell are you guys?” He slaps me on the back like we’re old buddies. I can’t stand the guy.
Sure, I know him. He was at my Halloween party, but not by myinvite. He came with a buddy of mine who, turns out, was later involved in some shady scam shit. He’s not a friend anymore. I should’ve known. He was hanging out with Seth, after all.Yeah, that tracks.
“Hey, Seth,” Jensen says, and maybe I’m seeing things, but I swear his entire demeanor shifts. He relaxes, and his fingers stop fidgeting for the first time since we got here.
I don’t say a word. Not to Seth. Not to Jensen. I’m too busy watching this weird-as-fuck interaction.
Seth’s the worst kind of person—slimy, dishonest in every possible way. He used to be the guy everyone went to when they wanted to party. Always had the hookups. Word on the street is he’s cheating on his wife and has a second family in another state, and neither one knows about the other. I’ve also heard he’s still playing middleman, only now it’s not for cheap college kids. He’s dealing high-end scripts and coke to suit-wearing execs with money burning a hole in their pockets.
He and Jensen exchange a few words, then Seth’s eyes bounce between us—like he can tell he’s not fucking wanted here.Good.
“Well, it was good to see you both. Catch you around.”
Jensen says goodbye, and my eyes follow Seth as he wanders over to a large group of people across the bar.
“Can you believe that guy?” Jensen says, finally giving me his attention. “Heard he’s been cheating on his wife for years.” He scoffs and takes a sip of his beer.
“Yeah. Heard the same thing.” I toss back the rest of my whiskey. The burn slides down my throat and hits just right as a solid buzz settles in.
Jensen takes another swig of his beer, and he seems… more relaxed. Maybe my suspicions are way off. Maybe he really is just stressed, and now that the alcohol’s kicking in, he’s finally able to chill.
He sets his beer down. “I’ve gotta pee.”
Standing, he downs the rest of his drink, then makes his way through the crowd. As he passes Seth, I swear to God, their eyes meet—just for a second. Then Jensen disappears down the hall toward the restrooms.
No lie—thirty seconds later, Seth follows. Same direction. Down the same hallway. I’m either losing my mind or something shady as fuck is about to go down.
I stay put—watching, waiting. Seth reappears in under a minute. Not even long enough to take a leak.
Three minutes pass, and there’s still no sign of Jensen.
I try to talk myself down. Tell myself I’m overthinking this. This isJensen.He’s just taking a piss, maybe even taking a shit—I don’t know. But no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise… My instinct says something’s not right.
Chapter Thirty-Three
ALLEY
PRESENT DAY
Matt sits up,holding it together better than I am. “What are you going to do?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I whisper into the room. The words just… hang there, heavy and suffocating.
I thought we were done with this. I thought we’d won the battle. Things were good. They were actuallygoodagain.
I’ll admit, there was damage, wounds we were still healing. But we were working on it. We were moving forward. I was happy. I felt hopeful. But now? Now I don’t know what I am. I’m not sure if I feel anything at all. No, that’s not true.
Anger. That’s what I feel. Pure, seething anger. It’s not even directed at a person. Not Jensen. Not Christy. Just…life.
I’m mad at life.
