Origami Heart (Book 3 - DP series - COMPLETE)

14. Jealous

To say that our picnic in the park was a disaster would be an understatement. Sure, Mike's a mature guy who handled my intrusiveness with as much grace as a wounded soldier could, but I'd way overstepped my boundaries. There may have been a time in our history where that might have been okay—expected even—but those times are gone. We're practically strangers who are aching to make a friendship work, but I'm just not sure it's going to happen.

As much as I'm dying to be the girl he needs to pull him out of this funk, he's not ready. He's not ready for any help. As of now, he seems only looking for professional help, his way of unleashing some of his pint-up pain without having to let on that he's suffering around his friends. The thing is, war changed him and it's a change that he can't conceal. We all see the agony burning within the cobalt depths of his dull eyes as well as the more physical damage in the slight limp he tries to hide.

It's been a week since then. We had parted ways with a hug after our forty-five-minute lunch and then he was gone. I haven't heard a peep from him since. Not a text. Not a mysterious note on my car. Nothing. That's going to change today though. For two reasons. One: he's got an appointment, and two: Gavin's invited everyone to his place for a pool party. I suppose there's a chance that Mike might not show, but I highly doubt it. He needs distractions and what better way to pull his mind away from misery than to submerge it in alcohol, pointless conversations, and childish fun.

What I'm most certainly not expecting is for him to bring another woman.

I pull up to the curb of Gavin's home—located twenty minutes from my hometown—just as Mike steps out of his car. He doesn't notice me, so I sit in the safety of my vehicle pretending to be busy on my phone until he's made his way inside the house. But when he rounds the hood of his car and opens the passenger door, my brows crease as I squint for a clearer view.

That's when a pair of long tanned legs swing around and plant themselves on the concrete. She's got the kind of legs that deserve to be shown off in heels, but instead, she's wearing a pair of Converse and jean shorts. She's about as casual as a girl can get, even down to the baseball cap that's helping to support the long, silky ponytail popping out of the hole in the back.

Flames lick the inner walls of my chest. It's the kind of scorching heat that somehow sizzles into my cheeks and makes me feel flushed. Every molecule inside me is vibrating with fury and gloom as the color slowly leaks from my vision. The world just went from rainbows of possibilities to a blackened sky of hollowness.

I reach a trembling hand up to my neck, rubbing along the muscles of my throat as I swallow my emotions down with a frantic need to remain calm. I can't let him see me like this, but thankfully, I'm parked a couple cars down from his in the opposite direction of his destination. So, rather than ducking to hide from view, I continue to watch as he pulls her up into standing before swinging her up into his extraordinary arms bridal style.

My stomach lurches, forcing me to clamp two fingers around the bridge of my nose to stop the sting of tears. Once the tears start, I'll have no control over anything else. I'll have given myself over to my grief entirely.

Unable to pull my gaze from the sight of Mike with his new friend, I watch as they cross the street and meander up the sidewalk to Gavin's front door. I can tell they're goofing off, the sound of their laughter reaching my ears even from inside my car. Then she playfully swats at his head, the force causing him to lose his balance slightly before he regains his composure. All the while, they're both still laughing at whatever he'd said to cause her reaction.

That laugh.

I used to be the one capable of eliciting that sound from his chest. What changed? Why's he so closed off with me, even when I've proven to him that I'm not going to run? Unless he's simply using his PTSD as an excuse to be done with me for good.