Page 2 of Hoax and Kisses
Another punch. It takes everything I have in me, years of PR training and honing my public persona, to keep from showing how easily he hit his target. And that’s sad, isn’t it? That I won’t let him see my softer side. As if he’d find some twisted satisfaction in my vulnerability. Sticks and stones never broke my bones, but emotional cracks will, and I can’t have that.
“I’ve never lied to you about the importance of my job.” I keep my emotions tightly wrapped up, my tone sharp and dry. “Don’t act like you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into. You used to find my ambition and drivesooosexy.”
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “When you still made time for me. For the two of us. When was the last time we went out? When was the last time we—”
He cuts himself off, the words dying on his tongue as he looks away. But his silence is loaded with what he doesn’t say.When was the last time you touched me?When was the last time we had sex?
It’s the same conversation over and over, the same accusations.
I’m exhausted. And yes, our sex life has been… well, nonexistent lately, but isn’t that how it goes for everyone once the honeymoon phase is over?
“You’re not being fair. I know our relationship hasn’t been perfect, but it’s a rougher patch. If you could just—”
“It’s never been great, and you know it,” he says before I have a chance to, what? Beg him to give us more time?
“I've always felt like I'm the only one who craved intimacy,” he continues. “It’s been a one-way street from the start. You don’t even know what I like.” He takes a step closer, and I shrink back. “What turns me on, Zoey, huh? Are you even capable of answering that question? No, how about this. Do you at least know what turnsyouon?” His cruel laughter echoes in every corner of my brain. “Of course you don’t. You’d have to think about what brings you pleasure outside of your work to figure that one out.”
“Wow, Jake. Very classy.” I swallow, the knot in my chest tightening with each breath. I need to pull myself together. So I straighten and lift my chin. “I’m not the only one who’s stopped trying. You think it’s only me shutting you out, but what about you?” I arch a brow. “What about all the times I’ve initiated conversation, intimacy, any of it, and you were mentally checked out? Always on your phone, texting god knows who.”
His eyes flick wide, and a wave of dread washes over me. He smooths his expression quickly, but it’s too late. The truth is out, and I’ve just nailed it.
The air shifts, like a subtle crack in the tension that’s been simmering between us since he walked through the door.
I cross my arms. “Who have you been texting?”
Jake scoffs, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I haven’t been—”
“Please don’t insult me further,” I cut.
He leans against the wall behind him and sighs. “Lauren.”
Lauren.
Nausea rises at the sound of my best friend’s name on his lips. It lands on my chest with a thud, closing my throat another notch.
I swallow down the bitter taste, every muscle in my body strung tight. For a split second, I’m certain I misheard him.
But his contrite expression tells me I didn’t.
“Lauren?” My voice is too steady, too calm for the fire blazing inside me. “Really? You’re cheating on me with mybest friend?”
Jake exhales, slow and long, almost like he’s…exasperated? “She’s my colleague too. And it’s not like that. It’s not what you think.”
Hackles rising, I pin him with my gaze. “Oh, yeah? Then please enlighten me. Whatisit like?”
I cross my legs and plant an elbow on the table, resting my chin on my knuckles. There. He’s got all my attention.
He glances away, fidgeting with something in his pocket. “It’s… we’re…” Finally, he looks at me, an apology in his eyes. “She’s been there for me. She knows what it’s like to…” He swallows, his throat bobbing. “To be with you.”
“Wow.” The word escapes me along with all the air in my lungs. Two breakups, then. “How long has this been going on for?”
Jake scrapes his fingers over his jaw. “Six months.”
I can’t stop the quick exhale that leaves me, or the tiny cracks that fissure at the edges of my heart. “Six months.”
The double betrayal is a sharp, deep cut, slicing through any hope I had left. I don’t know which one hurts more.
“Zoey, I’m so—”
