Page 79 of Corrupted Memories
He throws up his hands in frustration. “The restraining order?—”
“Was bullshit. And you know it,” I grit out, my fingernails digging into my palms. I take a deep breath and exhale loudly. “Plus, I have something to tell you, and I doubt you’ll want to be with me afterward anyway.”
Jeremy swallows. I can see the motion clearly with the bob of his throat. “Okay.”
Licking my suddenly dry lips, I look away from him as shame burns into my cheeks. “I slept with Sebastian.” I figure there’s no point in mentioning the other two incidents beforehand. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
“Sebastian? The one Brittany?—”
I shake my head. “They were never together. He’s my ex from college.”
We are silent, but I feel the burn of his gaze on me. I don’t remove my eyes from the spot on the floor I picked out. I know it’s cowardly of me not to look at him, but I can’t do it. I couldn’t look at the hurt or devastation on his face while I hold little regret for what I did. I’m just ashamed I did it while I was still in a relationship—kind of—but being with Sebastian again is like remembering to take the first deep breath after runninga long distance.
“When?” he finally asks, his voice low. I glance at my phone for the date and realize it’s been over a week.
“The day after you left.”
Jeremy makes a choking noise, and I look up at him. His back is to me now and I know he’s seconds away from pacing. I bite my lip as I watch him, not knowing what to say. Nothing I say would be comforting in the least. He turns around and storms up to me as I press back into the counter, leaning away from him.
“What are?—”
“It’s okay,” he says soothingly, gripping the top of my arms. His eyes are lined with red. “You were feeling hurt. And it was my fault. We all make mistakes.”
My mouth drops open as I try to push at his chest. “It wasn’t a mistake. I went to his house and happily spread my legs for him.”
He flinches and closes his eyes, his grip tightening on my arms. “It was to punish me, I know,” Jeremy rasps.
“No,” I try to tell him. I push him harder but he won’t budge. “I wasn’t even thinking about you.” At this point, I know I need to hurt his feelings if he’s going to accept it.
Jeremy is shaking his head violently, trying to pull me into him as I continue to push against him. He’s chanting the word no, and an uneasy tension is building in me because this is completely out of character for him.
“Stop,” I plead with him, his face snapping up to look at me.
“Gianna, I love?—”
“Let go of her.” A deep voice rumbles behind us. I lock onto Sebastian’s cold, hard stare. A small breath of relief escapes me at the sight of him; I hadn’t heard the door open, but I’m glad to no longer be alone with my ex-boyfriend.
Jeremy takes his hands off me, turning to face Sebastian with a wild, flustered look. “You! You need to leave,” he shouts.
Sebastian doesn’t take his eyes off me as his eyebrow arches and his jaw tenses. “You haven’t answered anyone’s call, texts, or opened the door in over a week. But you let this fucking bastard in, Gianna?”
The harsh tone makes a buzz start to squirm under my skin and my eyes widen. “He let himself in. I only let him stay so I could break up with him.”
“We’re not breaking up!” Jeremy cries. and Sebastian finallyglances at him.
“Leave,” he commands, stepping aside to give Jeremy a clear path to the door.
Jeremy shakes his head and points at Sebastian’s chest. “No, you need to leave. I need to finish this conversation with my girlfriend. You’re the past, buddy. And you’re going to stay there.”
A smile breaks out across Sebastian’s face, and I shiver at the malice of it. A sense of dread starts to form in my stomach as he steps closer to Jeremy and whispers, “Is that so?”
“Jeremy, I think you should leave,” I say, uncomfortable with the look on Sebastian’s face.
“I—uh,” Jeremy stutters, his face draining of color and his body shaking as Sebastian pulls a gun out of the back of his pants and presses it against Jeremy’s forehead.
“Sebastian! You promised?—”
“Shush,mon cœur,” he interrupts, still staring into Jeremy’s face. “I’m not the past because I never fucking left. I have and will always be her future, and because you fucking pissed me off... I’m in the mood to play with you. Be thankful it’s not your life. Go sit on that chair.” Sebastian tilts his head toward the matching ottoman chair beside my couch.
