Page 79 of His Virgin Romance Series

“Of course.” Brent nodded. “Where do you think I got my pot from? But trust me, all I ever get from Jared is pot. I don’t buy any of the harder stuff he sells.”

“Oh my God,” I said, feeling light-headed.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Brent said.

I sat down slowly and shook my head after a moment. “Are you saying that Jared was your dealer?”

“Yes.” Brent nodded. “I thought you knew.”

“Why would you assume that?” I demanded.

He shrugged. “You were sleeping with him, weren’t you?” he said. “And, you seemed so close, I thought he had already told you, and you were cool with it.”

“You know I hate drugs,” I said. “That’s why I leave every time you smoke.”

“I just thought you hated me,” he said. “I figured that’s why you avoided me.”

I looked at Brent and wondered if I’d been unfair to him this whole time. Had I been a terrible sister, so involved with my new romance that I’d forgotten all about what he might have been going through?

“I don’t hate you, Brent,” I assured him. “I was just…”

“Preoccupied with Jared?” he said before I could finish my sentence.

“You should have told me.”

“You spoke to Jared more than you spoke to me,” he pointed out. “How was I to know that he hadn’t told you?”

“How long has he been your dealer?” I asked, scared to hear the answer.

“Since we met,” he replied. “That’s how we met, actually.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what Jared told me,” I said, feeling the tears resurface.

I felt more than betrayed, I felt completely and utterly disappointed. The perfect image I’d had in my head of the kind of man that Jared was had completely disintegrated and I wondered if I had myself to blame for all this. I had obviously been naïve. I had obviously been so thrilled that a guy like that had been interested in me, that I’d shut my eyes and believed him wholeheartedly.

I remembered the ex-girlfriend that we’d run into on our first date together. I wondered if he had told me the truth about her, too. What if their relationship went deeper than Jared had first told? I started to question everything…and it scared me how perfect my memories were.

“Hey don’t feel bad,” Brent said. “Jared’s always been a dick. He’s always lied to his girlfriends—it’s why he and Anna broke up.”

“Anna?” I said.

“Yeah.”

I sighed. “Is that the reason your friendship with Jared has been a little strained lately?” I asked.

Brent raised his eyebrows infinitesimally. “That’s exactly the reason,” he nodded. “I wanted to make sure he was treating you right, and I guess he didn’t like the fact that I was checking up on him all the time.”

“Did he tell you he had told me about the drugs?”

“He implied it,” Brent nodded. “Which is why I just assumed…”

“Right,” I said, turning away from him. “This day is the worst.”

“Hey, how about we make something to eat and just chill?” Brent suggested. “We’re both in need of some comforting.”

“You need comforting?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “My business turned out to be a bust.”

“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry, Brent.”

He shrugged. “I’ll try again one day.”

I gave him a half-hearted smile, wondering if I would be willing to try another relationship again one day. Somehow, I felt that even if I did, I would never feel about another man the way I felt about Jared.

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