After Reed left the room, I sat on the bed and picked at the blueberry muffin a little more before attempting some of my juice. My stomach felt raw, so I didn’t force much down. I had lost a little weight over the last few weeks, and my clothes weren’t fitting like they were supposed to. When I realized that I didn’t have any clothes, I panicked a bit, and stood up to spin around the room to find a solution. My eyes zeroed in on the neat pile of my clothes from the night before folded on top of Reed’s dresser. There was a tiny note on it that read cleaned last night.

My heart skipped for a moment, an unfamiliar feeling in contrast to the gut-wrenching ache I’d been nursing. Unsure how I’d gotten here, both physically and emotionally, I did what I always do in these situations—I called the girls. We made plans to meet up at Becky’s, and Sarah agreed to come pick me up from Reed’s, though I couldn’t ignore the odd hesitation in her voice.

Once dressed and looking semi-decent, I cracked open Reed’s door to make my way downstairs, holding my breath as the kitchen came more into view. My stomach sank when I saw Jason’s back to me at the kitchen island. I hadn’t had much interaction with him over the years, but the last 24 hours would hold me for a while. I took in a deep breath and forced myself the rest of the way down the steps taking comfort that Sarah would be at the door any minute.

I didn’t make eye contact, only reached up to the cabinet to grab a coffee mug. But Jason wasn’t going to let me go without conversation.

“Hey, good morning, sunshine. Quite a display you put on last night, with your near strip tease,” he joked, holding his coffee just far enough away from his lips so he could spit out his biting comment.

I just turned and shrugged, a bit embarrassed. I wasn’t going to engage. I’d learned one thing from Reed about his brother over the years—Jason liked to spar. And if you didn’t put up a fight, he got bored quickly, and moved on. I turned back to the coffee and started pouring my cup.

“So…kinda awkward way for you to meet the rebound chick, no?” he said, his words hitting every nerve in my body. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, I just let my muscles clench to take the impact of his fire, hoping it would soon pass, and I could just work out what he’d said with Sarah, Becky and Sienna.

“He did tell you about Jenny, right? Dylan’s cousin?” He wasn’t going to let this go. I turned to face him, the coffee cup to my mouth, masking the grimace on my face. I just shrugged again, and gave him a lopsided smile, but nodded no, honestly. No. I’d told him the truth, and given him the weapon he desperately wanted to destroy me with.

“Wowwwwww,” he let it drag out as he stood to wash his coffee mug, his back now to me. “Well, then, it must have really sucked to have found out last night. I mean, if he’s going to make himself feel better, though, might as well be with a girl like that. I don’t mean it in a crass way. What I meant was she’s so opposite of you. That has to make it better, right? I mean, if it was someone more like you, you’d feel like you were just being replaced.”

He just sat there leaning on the counter again, with a smug-ass grin on his face. I knew Jason was playing me. It’s what he did. He had some bitter war with Reed ever since Reed started seeing success in high school, and it had gotten way out of hand. But there was also always some layer of truth to his shots; he wasn’t a complete sociopath like Tatum. No, he collected bits and pieces along the way, and saved them up to use them against his enemies later, when they least expected it.

I heard Sarah pulling into the driveway, so I grabbed my purse and turned my back to Jason, and his satisfied f**king grin. Not wanting to let him completely get away with it, I sent one final shot over my shoulder. “Yeah, well you would know about being replaced, huh? Must have sucked when Reed filled your spotlight…and never gave it back.”

I walked out the door at my words and didn’t look back. I’d held it together in front of Jason, but once out of his view, I felt the life fleeing from my lungs. I was nearly hyperventilating when I got in the car with Sarah, who was rolling her eyes at me already, trying to punish me from my actions from the night before.

“Jesus, Noles. Just once I’d like us to get together without some f**king emotional scars, or wounds, that need tending to,” she said, sighing as I shut the door, and we drove off. She felt bad instantly, though, as she always did, and slid her hand over to squeeze mine. “Sorry, just a little frustrated. I didn’t mean it.”

“I know,” I said, biting at my lip and readying myself for everything new that I had to fill the girls in on.