Well Played by J.S. Scott & Ruth Cardello

Author:J.S. Scott & Ruth Cardello
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Lauren

The next day I was in my bedroom at my childhood desk looking over my hiring packet from the Jeffersonian. Jack knocked on my door even though it was open. “May I come in?”

I closed the binder before answering. “Sure.” I hadn’t seen Jack in person since Aspen. He was still on my shit list, but he was also my only sibling. The thought of losing him as well as Graham was unsettling.

He sat on the edge of my bed and rested his elbows on his knees. “Hope and I broke up.”

I was tempted to cheer, but I didn’t. Dad had told me several times that he had never seen Jack behave the way he had recently. “Love makes men stupid sometimes,” he’d said.

I could have told him it wasn’t an exclusively male affliction. No matter how many times Graham pushed me away, no matter what my rational brain told me, my heart refused to give up on him. So, really, could I judge Jack for following his heart? “Sorry to hear that.”

“Actually, she broke it off with me.”

If he was looking for pity from me I didn’t have any for him. Not yet. I put a hand on my hip and simply stared at him.

His shoulders slumped forward. “She was already dating someone new.”

“Shocker.”

“I thought she was the one. I’m such a fucking idiot.”

I moved to sit beside him. “Yeah, you are.”

He shook his head with a sad smile. “Dad said you saw Graham. How was he?”

“I thought you no longer gave a shit about him.”

“You know I didn’t mean that. I was angry.”

“You had no right to be. You deserved that punch.”

“I know. I feel like someone gutted me. Nothing matters right now. Not my new job. Nothing. What is fucking wrong with me? Why would I do this?”

I sighed and remembered something Kelley had once said regarding couple counseling. “Most people don’t set out to hurt anyone. Betrayals start as small lapses in judgment. Like a married person who goes to bars every night without their spouse. Purely based on statistical probability, eventually they will meet someone who makes them take a second look, then laugh—or yearn. I don’t think you set out to break Hope and Graham up. Knowing you, at first you were just trying to be nice to her. The two of you clicked. That led to—well, we know where that led.”

“It felt real, you know? When I was with her nothing else mattered. My brain knew it was wrong, but my di—my heart had other plans.”

I totally understood that feeling. “I’m glad you’re sorry. Not glad you’re sad or that Hope left you, but I didn’t feel like I knew you when you were with her.”

“I didn’t know myself.”

We sat in silence for a long time. I didn’t know what else to say and it seemed that Jack felt the same way. Eventually, he asked, “Is Graham okay?”

It was a simple question that if answered honestly would require a complicated response.

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