Lose Control (The Jewel Project #5)

5.1||Clash of the Titans

Jerry walked back to his apartment, his mind buzzing with the night's events. Even if it was three in the morning, he didn't take a cab. It was a good neighborhood and he lived only a half an hour away. The exercise and fresh air would do him good. Especially since the rain had finally stopped and the air was crisp and cool.

His heart ached for Sam. Part of him couldn't believe what had happened, while the other part unexpectedly agreed with Jimmy. Christine was narcissistic and needy and she'd always made a point of showing Sam wasn't good enough for her. Yet, they's stayed together over the years, Sam steadily taking the lead, putting her in her place.

And Christine had changed. She'd become much closer to them, had turned Angie into her best friend, and appeared to be satisfied and happy. Maybe she was because she'd gotten someone else on the side. Someone to stroke her ego more than his brother ever could.

What Jerry found hard to believe was that she had never expressed her thoughts on the situation, that Sam hadn't brought up the professor's claims. Poor Sam had done his best to avoid embarrassing her, to respect a wish which obviously didn't exist.

And for Christine to throw that in his face, call him less of a man for it. Jerry knew how much that really hurt his baby brother even if Kyle, Jimmy and Tom seemed to brush it off as nonsense.

To Sam, it wasn't. To Sam, it was insecurity and an endless pool from which Christine could draw her weapons and continue to hurt him even after they broke up. If Sam was smart, he'd avoid her. Though he seemed to get the idea what with misplacing his phone, staying at Tom's, and having Kyle collect his stuff.

Kyle was the best choice after all. He could brush past Christine with ease, ignore all her nonsense, and maybe not wring her neck. Jerry wasn't sure how he would react, but he'd probably end up pitying her if she started begging or crying. Fortunately, problem solved.

All they had to do was make sure poor Sam was always distracted until the pain started to fade. That was how it had worked from him.

His second breakup from Tina hadn't been as smooth as their first. Even if he no longer believed Kyle was an issue between them, Jerry was aware it was only because Tina wanted to prove him wrong. Had he never called her out on it, she'd probably still be daydreaming about his brother.

Even so, it was more than obvious that she waited for a knight in shining armor to save her and take her into the sunset. It took Jerry exactly one month to realize that wasn't him. He was messed up enough on his own with his intimacy issues and inability to adapt to affection. With Tina by his side, they'd only be spiraling towards general unhappiness.

Tina hadn't understood. She'd raged that he was messing with her. Taking advantage of her love for him to use her, to sleep with her and then dump her.

And even if, just like in Sam's case, he knew it was bull, it still hurt, it still made him feel awful, doubt himself.

It took him six month to get over a girl he'd gotten over before. How long would it take Sam to get over something that lasted four years?

"Hi."

Jerry froze in his tracks. He'd reached the corner of his street just to find Sarah there, leaning against a streetlight, a bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other. She wore a light tan chiffon dress and no shoes.

"Sarah? It's three in the morning. What are you doing here?"

"You mentioned that you live around here and I wanted to surprise you." She waved her hand around, a small smile on her face.

It still didn't explain three A.M. "How long have you been out here?"

"You know how you texted me that you would be going home soon like an hour ago?" She looked at her wrist, but she had no watch. "I left home around that time, so... forty minutes?"