Page 111 of Set the Moment
He brought her home for Thanksgiving last year…
“Oh…Uh…” he stammers.
“Oh really,Jacey baby?” I mock the girl, eyeinghim.
He doesn’t say anything though, his golden skin is dim of its naturally bright hue and he looks like he’s just gotten caught doing something he shouldn’t have.
Jace doesn’t deny what she says, he just avoids eye contact with me.
Wow…
“Anna, thank you so much for having me, but I fear I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll uh…I’ll see myself out. Happy Holidays, everyone.”
Jace’s gaze flickers to my own, a torrent of emotions clouding them, but I don’t stop walking.
I’m overstimulated to the max.
I wish he would’ve at least told her off or said something.Anything. Instead, he just sat there.
Without thinking, I march my way out of the house, leaving everything and everyone behind.
My mind is roaring with different thoughts of the two of them—Jace and that girl. When was the last time they’ve seen one another? Did they spend Christmas together—New Years?
Fuck.
I don’t realize that Jace is following me out the door until I hear his footsteps hit the porch, thundering my own.
“Listen, I’m not mad or anything, and I want you to tell me all about the years we’ve been apart, but right now my mind is going at a pace that I can’t help and I just need a break. I’m okay. I just need to breathe...”
When my words are out in the open, the world around us comes crashing down. Jace is closer to me, his hands finding their usual spot on my cheeks, guiding my eyes up to look at him, but I just can’t.
“Is there anything that I can do?”
My chest heaves and everything feels too small, too close.
“No.” I say, prying myself away from the man who I’ve loved my entire life and walking away.
forty-two
Sienna
Lifeisn’teasy.Noone ever said it was, but people have said that love is.
Those people lied.
If loving was easy, then why does my heart feel like I left it on Jace’s lawn?
My hands shake as I walk, studying them.
I’d left my phone and coat at Jace’s house, not caring at the time, but now as the crisp November air blows against my skin, I wish that I hadn’t left so abruptly.
Headlights flash as a car drives past, but I ignore it. They’re probably on their way to see their loved ones, something that I should be doing right now.
Instead, I’m walking through my boyfriend’s neighborhood alone.
“Get in the car, Jones.” My heart stutters, coming back to life at the sound of the person’s voice. I’d know it anywhere.
It’s my cousin, Zayden.
