Fated

CHAPTER 19

~FLASHBACK~

JASMINE'S POV

I rushed through the door, ready to confess my feelings and be with him. “Mason, I -.”

You know how it feels when your ears pop and you can't hear? Everything is muffled and it's like you're underwater? That's me right now. Here is a very naked Mason, bent down at the edge of the bed, leaning into her, hand gripping her left bicep. His head snapped to me and I saw lipstick on his mouth and cheek. Stacy gasped and her eyes went wide. She grabbed the sheet for cover. I froze. My brain was screaming, "RUN", but my body wouldn't move. I heard Mason, but I didn't register the words.

“I...I…,” I sputtered. I felt hands on my shoulders. “Get. Off. Me.” Each word is punctuated and falls from my lips with venom. I'm enraged and I felt myself trembling. Mason is looking at me and his brow is furrowed. He took a step back from me, hands raised in surrender.

“Jasmine, this isn't what you think. Please let me explain.” I don't know how it can't be what I think. Lipstick on him, they're naked, she's in his bed.

“I need to go.” As I turned, Mason reached out for me. “Mason, if you touch me, I swear…” I opened the door and ran down the hall to my room. I'm shaking so hard that I kept dropping the stupid key card. I took a deep breath and picked up the card. As I went to swipe it, Mason was running up to me. I hurried in my room and slammed the door.

“Jasmine! Open this door!”

“Mason, leave!”

“NO! Open this door so I can explain.”

“I don't need an explanation. What I saw was clear enough.”

“Jassy, please don't do this.” Hearing him call me "Jassy" made my insides jerk. I flung the door open and stared him down. He was standing before me with shorts on and nothing else. He took a step toward me and I held my hands up.

“No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to call me some pet name and I just let you in. I trusted you. I came to your room ready to go all in. Instead I find you naked with your ex.”

“Nothing happened!”

“Tell that to the lipstick on your face.” He raised his hand and wiped his face. Seeing the red stain on his hand caused him to growl and he blew out a loud breath.

“Okay this looks bad, but -.”

“No. I don't want to hear it. Go be with Stacy. You've picked her since we got here. I was stupid. What happened at dinner was what, foreplay for your meetup? Go away. I'm done.” I slammed the door in his face.

“Jasmine, you know me better than that! We need to talk about this. I would never play you!” I don't answer him. “Fine, I'll go. You know where to find me when you come to your senses.”

I went to the bathroom and threw some water on my face to cool off. I then laid back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. How did we get here? I thought about what Mason said. He had never disrespected me and never done anything to hurt me. Sure we've had disagreements, but nothing like this. We always talked things out. But how could he explain this? He was butt naked. All his goods on display.

Should I give him the chance to explain? This IS 15 years of friendship. He'd never done me dirty, so maybe I owed him this.

“Fine!” I shouted to the room. I dragged myself out my room and went to his. I stood outside his door and raised my hand to knock. Before I could, something hit the door from the other side. I could hear talking.

“Stacy, you -”

“I need you! Come on babe, I'm gonna make you feel better.” I heard her moaning. My stomach flipped and I wanted to vomit. I felt so dumb. So, so dumb. I took off back to my room and climbed into bed. I laid in the dark and cried. His face came to the forefront of my mind and I let out a mirthless laugh. The tears continued to fall and I knew this was the end of us.