Page 107 of From Me to You

Jay had one fist propped on his head as he lay by his side, watching me.

“Did you not sleep?” I asked, my voice devoid of any emotion. He looked as exhausted as me.

He tucked my hair behind the ear. “How could I? When you are like this.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

“That’s impossible.” He sighed.

“Well don’t.”

“Did I do something wrong? Is that it? Is that why you are acting this way? It’s so unlike you, Evelyn.”

“I can act any way I like, Jayden.”

His eyes widened. I have only ever called him Jay. But things would have to change now. Everything was going to be different from this point on.

“Are we back to this again? It’s frustrating that you won’t tell me anything. Do you expect me to believe that you broke down last night for no reason?”

I blew out a breath and turned back to stare at the ceiling. I couldn’t look him in the eye anymore.

“I cried all night because all of this was too much.” A half-truth.

He leaned over me and tilted my chin to look at him.

“What is too much, Evelyn?”

“You and everyone. All of you are suffocating me. You won’t let me breathe.” I lied. There was only one person who was suffocating me and it certainly wasn’t the people I called my family.

His eyes narrowed into thin slits. “You expect me to believe that? I am suffocating you? If I remember correctly, you cried in my fucking arms. Don’t fucking lie, Evelyn.”

I pushed him away and got off the bed. I needed more distance between us. Because all I wanted to do was cry again. But I let my pain turn into anger. The anger I had for White that I showed to him.

“Yes, yes, yes. You are always breathing down my neck, Jay. You are everywhere I go. I hate it.”

“You can’t be fucking serious right now. You were fucking dancing with another man last night. It took everything in me not to storm down that dance floor and rip him to shreds.”

I laughed. “You.” I pointed to him. “If I remember correctly, were flirting with another woman while I was dancing with my friends. Her hands were all over you, and you didn’t say a thing.”

Jay’s face turned furious. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? A friend. Oh, now Will is just your fucking friend? You have been all over him this past month, Evelyn. Don’t think I haven’t seen it. And Cece is someone I work with. I wasn’t flirting with her. I was talking with her.”

“Someone you work with? Who knows what you do with her all day at work? Huh, when I am not there. You let her put her hands all over you, Jay? Do you like her? Does she get you off? She is probably better suited for you now that you are a rockstar and everything,” I sneered at him. I actually did not know what she did when they were at the studio. And it drove me mad.

“Are you fucking accusing me of cheating on you?” Jay shouted.

“I don’t know. Are you?”

He grabbed my hand and slammed me against the wall. His furious gaze locked in on mine.

“I should ask you, Evelyn. With the way you are acting, who knows what the fuck you are doing with Will behind my fucking back?”

All this arguing hurt my head, but I willed myself to keep going. “Are you trying to cover your cheating by accusing me, Jay? Wow, how very pathetic of you!”

His jaw clenched as he closed his eyes. But when he opened them, there was only sadness in his gaze.

“I don’t want to fight with you. I would never cheat on you, Evelyn. Not now, not in a million years. You are the fucking air I breathe, sweetheart. I cannot live without you. It’s okay if something is bothering you. We will fix it. I’ll fix it for us.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “It has been days, sweetheart, since you told me that you loved me, since you asked me who my favorite person was. It’s okay if you don’t ask— I will remind you every day. It’s still you, and it will always be you.”

I swallowed hard. My eyes almost gave away how much it hurt me to see him hurt like this. But I compelled myself to detach from all my feelings because this was my fate now. I had no choice. My desperation outweighed my limited options.