Page 151 of Insincerely Yours
Jase enters the frame, all too happy to take it, only…
He’s not interested in hitting charcoal. Jase swings the bat towards the fire pit, striking the portable speaker and smashing it into oblivion.
Without the music, everyone’s cursing and screams can be heard perfectly as they all cower back.
“What the fuck, man?” Trent attempts to come across as nothing more than annoyed, but the quiver in his voice gives him away. He’s freaked out, as he should be.
Because Jase doesn’t drop the bat. His knuckles remain white as he practically strangles the grip of it, looking all too ready to start swinging again. Only once he reaches the firelight can I make out his expression, and it’s nothing short of murderous.
And I don’t mean that lightly.
He looks like he may very well begin bashing in someone’s brains. Preferably Sienna’s. “We had a deal. I stay away from her, and you leave her alone.”
“Hey, don’t look at me—”
“You did it in the middle of the goddamn gymnasium, Sienna!What the fuck is wrong with you?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s not like I hit her. The dork just tripped. What’s the big deal?”
“Ali’s in the goddamn hospital!”
Either she’s too dense or narcissistic to read the room, because Sienna chooses to bat her eyelashes, her voice taking on a quality meant to sound like a purr. “If you can’t handle a girl being that fragile, perhaps you should look for someone a little more durable.”
Every part of Jase goes still, save for his eyes. He blinks, and blinks, and blinks, as if he’s trying to process what she just said. His mouth tips up into a smile, but it’s the kind usually reserved for Halloween masks. “Are you fucking kidding?” He scoffs. “Is that really what all ofthisis about? Because I won’t fuck you?”
Patrick and Trent look at her, confused, and for the first time in my life, Sienna Hawthorne actually blushes, refusing to return their stares.
Jase slow-claps, at least as best as he can. With the bat in one hand, he beats the barrel of it against his other palm, looking more like he’s promising to start swinging it again. “What does it matter? Everybody at school already believes I’m fucking you. Congratulations! You won. You got Birdie’s sloppy seconds.”
The derision and false cheer in his voice leaves Sienna’s jaw clenching, her expression turning venomous.
It only spurs Jase on, to the point that he’s outright taunting her. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s the part that kills you, that she got there first. You don’t know if I fucked her, but you know I at least kissed her, and you know my decision had nothing to do with the Dogfight. And that’s what eats you alive. She got to play with the shiny new toy you’ve always wanted, and not only that, but the toy wants nothing to do with you.”
“Fuck you,” she seethes, but Jase just keeps smiling, getting right up in her face.
“Do you knowwhyI want nothing to do with you? Because being a vile, repulsive bitch doesn’t count as having a personality, Sienna. I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last warm body on the planet. And if you or one of your minions here goes after Ali again, I’ll be fucking up a lot more than just your sound system, sweetheart.”
Trent starts to move forward, like he’s actually going to fight Jase, but I notice he only has the cojones to do so when Patrick comes to his side. He already knows what his buddy will do, so he makes a show of it, raising his fists. As expected, the second he takes a step, Patrick intervenes, holding Trent back and telling him to calm down.
Only once Jase finally throws the bat aside and stalks back off into the darkness does Trent bother with the smack talk, knowing damn well he’s safely out of earshot.
Olivia lowers the phone so that the only thing visible is the stone patio. Still, the audio remains intact to hear Sienna seething, mainly calling me a certain something that rhymes with Bunt.
“Relax, Si. If that fucker wants a war, he’s going to be disappointed,” Trent says, his voice now eerily calm. “He’s about to get annihilated.”
The video stops,but I can’t put down the phone or look away. “Is that true? That the kiss had nothing to do with the Dogfight?”
“Do you really still believe that it didn’t?”
“Yes… No… It’s—” I just shrug. “You could have just told me, you know?”
“I did what I thought was best at the time. It seemed like the only way no one would get hurt.”
I look over the brim of my drink, the“Are you fucking kidding?” note practically stamped across my forehead.
“No one outside of the dogfight was ever supposed to know,” he says. “And it was never about looks. It was just Sienna’s way of targeting any girl who wasn’t a cheerleader or influencer. She appointed herself as the judge for the contest, and since everyone knew how pissed Sienna was at you regarding the Italy trip, half of the basketball team was planning to make a move on you. I had noticed you for years, and you had never been anything but nice to everybody. I couldn’t stomach the idea of some douchebag scamming on you just to rip the rug out from under your feet.”
“Again, you could have just told me.”
