Uncomfortable, Undone University Series, Book 1

Chapter 16

Krystal

I manage to keep my tears at bay until I'm upstairs and safely in my room, but the second I lock the door behind me, I'm ugly crying. I worked so hard to move past Ryan's betrayal with those photos. Almost three weeks have passed since they were removed, and I had almost forgotten about them, had almost forgotten that Jace didn't know about them.

Except that, if I were honest with myself, that was one of the reasons I was first attracted to him. It was like a fresh start, a guy who hadn't seen me naked on the internet.

But now he has.

And he had the nerve to blame me for them. My tears of betrayal meld with tears of anger and frustration as I wage an inner battle with myself, torn between righteous indignation that he thinks he has any right to judge me for anything, and shame that Ryan has once again managed to expose me in such a heartbreaking way.

A tiny knock rattles at the door, and I consider not answering it. When it comes again, I call out, "Leave me alone, Abby," because for all her brash attitude and mouthiness, she's the first person to try to offer comfort whenever anyone is hurting.

"I'm so sorry, Krystal." The words are muffled by the door, but the voice is clear. Jace.

No fucking way. "I know you did not follow me up here and are not out there trying to talk to me after what you just did." I may never let him speak to me again. Sorry or not.

"I didn't know." He tries again.

"I don't care." Ignorance is not an excuse for douche-baggery.

"Please, Krystal. Just open the door and let me apologize."

I'm silent for a long time, debating whether or not to just ignore him.

"Do you want me to beg? I'll totally do it." And I can tell by the tone in his voice that he means it.

I get up from the bed with a frustrated sigh and do my best to quickly wipe away as many of my leftover tears as possible before I open the door.

To his credit, Jace looks almost as hurt as I am, like he, too, is on the verge of tears.

I move out of the way so he can come fully into the room. "Give me one good reason why letting you into this room right now isn't a horrible idea."

He takes a deep breath, then hits me with the sorriest puppy-dog gaze I've ever seen in real life. "Because I'm a horrible person, and I recognize that, and I will spend however long you let me stay in here with you doing my best to make up for how I treated you down there."

"Not possible."

"But will you let me try? I think I could be really good at groveling if you give me a chance."

As angry and hurt as I am by him, he's almost cute when he's trying to apologize, and I can feel my mood beginning to lift. I move to the bed and sit cross-legged in the center, then motion with my hand for him to carry on.

He takes a seat on the edge of the opposite bed. "Okay, so please know that I'm fully aware that what I'm about to tell you in no way excuses how I reacted to those photos, but I want to give you some context."

I raise my eyebrows in question.

"I found out my ex-fiancé was cheating on me because I found naked pictures of her on my best friend's phone."

Ho...ly... shit. Jason Harlow, Mr. I Don't Date, was engaged? Wait... "Your best friend?" That must have been soul-crushing.

He nods. "I guess it had been going on for a while before I found out. But instead of breaking it off with me when she developed feelings for my friend, they decided to keep it a secret. I was young, probably too young to get married anyway—I know that now—and hadn't seen it coming at all." He looks down at his hands, fisted on his knees. "I was devastated."

"That's why you were anti-relationship when we met," I supply.

"Yeah. And when I saw those pictures of you on RJ's phone..." He trails off, as if unable to finish. He swallows hard and looks out the window to his left.

I finish the thought he couldn't give voice to, "You thought I was like your ex."

"It wasn't fair to judge you based on someone else's wrongs, and I'm sorry." His tone is heavy with remorse, and his eyes are earnest when he looks back at me.

As much as what he did sucked, and as hurtful as it was, I can't help but put myself in his shoes. What would I have done if our roles had been reversed? Would I have jumped to the same conclusion he did?

Probably.

"I get it," I tell him.

"You do?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that your reaction hurt me. On top of already being hurt by Ryan posting those pics. Twice."

"Want me to kick his ass for you? Just say the word."

I have no doubt that Jace really would fight Ryan for me if I asked him to. "That's sweet, but fighting him won't do anything except get you in trouble."

Jace lifts his arms in a shrugging gesture that clearly says he doesn't care. "Totally worth it."

I give a small laugh at the sweetness of it. "Just promise me you'll never do anything like that."

"Never!" He says solemnly, and I know deep down he never will. His expression turns hopeful. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

He looks so adorable, not to mention hot, sitting there asking to serve penance for his error. And after what he just told me about his ex... of course he's totally forgiven, but I'm not ready to give him the satisfaction of giving in just yet. I toss him a teasing smile. "I don't know... I feel like you might still have some groveling to do..."

His eyebrows raise in interest. "Oh yeah..."

"Mmm-hmmm," I smile suggestively and make a show of toying with the hem of my shirt.

"Oh, yeah, I definitely still have some groveling to do."