Page 102 of Hate At First Sight

“Yes,” he says. “With many shades of gray, though.”

My lips quiver. I look back at Jansen, then at Jack.

No. Jansen couldn’t be right. I thought…I thought he was just making up an entire lie.

“Kevin’s your kid?”

“Indy, if we could just talk alone for a while…”

“No,” I say. “That’s enough. I’m not going anywhere this weekend. I’m not going with you.”

“But Amelia--”

Chester hears the commotion and opens the gate to see what’s going on with us. “Jack. What’s going on here?”

“Chester, I was just trying to explain something to Amelia.”

“Oh? About what?”

I don’t hold back. “So you lied to me? You said that you don’t have a son and you do? You said you don’t have any major secrets. You promised, Jack.”

I’ve never seen Jack at a loss for words, but that’s how he looks right now as he runs a hand through his thick head of hair.

“I think you’d better go,” Josefina says. “This is supposed to be a place of no drama. I’m not sure what’s going on here but it looks pretty darn close to a violation of the commingling clause.”

“Ame—” Jack starts to say.

But I head inside, go to my room and lock the door.

I grab my pillow and hold it tight.

“Amelia. Just—“

“Go away Jack. You lied to me. Youpromised. Just go away. I don’t want to be with someone who throws around words like ‘promise.’”

I hear mumbling with Josefina and Chester talking to Jack, and then the sound of a car door slamming, and a car driving away.

So much for next week’s surf lesson with him.

This was not the twist I wanted to our story.

23

JACK

2months later

I screamas I lift the weights, trying to push myself harder. I'm not sure what I'm trying to accomplish, but I just need to feel something. Anything. The pain in my muscles is the only thing that can distract me from the emptiness inside.

Suddenly, I hear a voice. "Jack? Jack, are you okay?"

I look up to see Yoshimi standing in the doorway, concern etched on her face. I quickly release the weights and sit up, trying to compose myself.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, panting heavily as I sit up. “Just a light little workout.”

“Alightworkout?” Yoshimi’s tone is unconvinced. "You were screaming. And you were lifting way too much weight. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

I shrug. "I don't even care anymore."

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