Vanessa Collins hadn’t been sitting very long at the little coffee shop on the corner of Hackberry and Vista, when her coffee date came in and took the seat opposite her. She’d only ever actually seen Jake once or twice before and always in the company of Yasmine Sinclair. It felt strange seeing him without her and it felt equally strange not having Seth with her in his company. When he’d phoned to ask her to meet him, she had a pretty good idea what it was going to be about.
“Yasmine dumped you, I’m assuming?” she said the moment he took a seat in front of her.
“Yes,” Jake grimaced. “I have tried to call her, but she’s blocked my number. Then I saw on Facebook that she has now marked her status engaged.”
“She didn’t block you on social media?”
“She has now. I sent her a DM after I saw that. She never answered.”
“Seth and I broke up too,” Vanessa acknowledged. “His status notes the same change. Engaged.”
Jake began tapping his fingers rapidly, and firmly on the table. The motion began to slightly slosh Vanessa’s coffee. She watched his fingers as he bopped them up and down. His nails were in need of a trim, longer than most men’s and a little pointy.
“The best thing to do is to just move forward,” Vanessa advised. “I’m hurt, too. I actually thought Seth and I might get married down the road.”
Tap, tap, tap of the fingers. Jake was agitated. “You never suspected they were messing around on us?”
“Oh, I don’t believe for a second they were messing around,” Vanessa argued. “In fact, I’m quite sure that it came as a complete surprise to Seth when he realized it was Yasmine he was actually in love with.”
Jakes nails dug in and scratched down the tabletop two inches. Vanessa noticed the marks they left in the grain. She glanced up at his eyes. He was furious. Almost crazed. It seemed to her to be an outsized reaction considering he and Yasmine Sinclair had not been that serious.
“Jake,” she contemplated, “surely you had signs.”
“That my girlfriend was in love with her cousin?!” he roared. Heads at nearby tables turned to see.
“Was she your girlfriend?” Vanessa asked. “I know that Seth and I were exclusive with each other. We’ve been seeing each other a while. But it was my understanding that you and Yasmine had only recently begun dating.”
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“She was mine,” he growled. “I was hers.”
“I see,” Vanessa said, feeling a little apprehensive at the animosity brimming from him.
For days she’d been wallowing in her own resentment towards Seth and Yasmine, but now she found herself feeling oddly defensive of them. Almost rooting for them and happy Yasmine had gotten away from this volatile man sitting before her now.
“I know for a fact that Seth and she never at any time behaved inappropriately behind our backs,” Vanessa informed him. “I began to suspect Seth held some deeper feelings for Yasmine, and when I finally confronted him about them—you should have seen his face—the thought had never occurred to him until I mentioned it. Then it all became quite clear in his mind. He did have feelings for her. Feelings he had never allowed himself to admit. I don’t think he meant to hurt me or lead me on.”
“Why didn’t you fight for him?” Jake challenged. “Sounds to me like you just gave up.”
“Fight for what? A man who prefers to be with someone else?” Vanessa scoffed. “I am not the kind of woman who hangs around waiting for a man to choose me. You either want me or you don’t. I am worth more than that.”
“But you love him.”
“So what?” Vanessa said. “I love me more. No man on earth is worth debasing myself for by begging him to stay. Love isn’t enough, not if it isn’t returned. That sort of love is worse than never feeling anything for anyone at all.”
Vanessa was more than a little surprised at Jake’s mindframe. Was he really so insecure—or controlling—that he’d prefer Yasmine stay with him even knowing she wanted someone else? The look in his eyes was disturbing. A refusal to accept defeat lurked there, and it frightened her. Vanessa had more pride than that. Yes, she loved Seth, but all it took for her to move on was knowing Seth didn’t love her back.
“It was clear that Seth wants Yasmine, so I set him free. I hope he and Yasmine find happiness. I intend to find some myself.”
“I’m not that forgiving.” Jake snapped. “I offered myself to her, and she threw it back in my face. I didn’t know why at first, but now I do. She was just stringing me along waiting for Seth.”
“I don’t know Yasmine well,” Vanessa offered, “but she doesn’t seem that manipulative.”
“You don’t know what she is!” he bellowed. “She’s that and a lot more. Do you know that she came on to me the other night? Hot and heavy. Then playing some sick twisted game, she rejected me. Even hurt me physically. She’s not going to get away with this either.”
Vanessa was flabbergasted. Jake was infuriated and it was clear that he felt he had reason to be. And maybe Yasmine Sinclair was all the things he was saying, but Vanessa had never held that impression of her. But what she was getting, was the impression that Jake was unstable. She wanted to leave. She stood up and placed a couple of dollars on the table for the tip.
“I hope you find some peace with this and let it go,” Vanessa advised. “Seething over it isn’t healthy. And it will not change anything. Go out with friends. Spend time with family. I promise you’ll feel better.”
Jake glared up from the table into Vanessa’s eyes and replied, “I have no friends or family here. Yasmine was the first person I met here.”
Vanessa wanted to leave, but curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know something. “What brought you to Daihmler then? If it wasn’t family, or friends. Work?”
“I moved here with a girlfriend. We broke up. Then I met Yasmine.”
“Any chance of reuniting with your ex?”
“I don’t think so. The last time Lana and I got together it didn’t end well.”
Who do you think is the wolf now?
