AMOUR

Chapter 38.

ROYA

I prepare the last batch of brownies for the day and put them in the display. Denver protested against me coming here to work today but I wasn't budging. He doesn't understand why I work, I don't think anybody does. This is a second life for me - happy customers, coffee and baking. I don't have any problems in this life. 

I take a glass of iced coffee with a couple pieces of brownie and sit in the corner. My bus isn't scheduled for the next 20 minutes. I was scrolling through my phone when I felt a presence next to me.

I look up and lock my eyes on the black ones looking at me gently. I stop chewing and just stare at him. He looks tired, more than what he looked like a day ago. He looks like he's dehydrated and starved, and I shouldn't care but I do. 

He looks at the chair next to me silently and I nod, allowing him to sit. He sits and sighs looking outside the glass windows in front of us. I take him in while I can, his hair are ruffled and his eyes have bags under them. His lips are rough which only makes me suspicious about him smoking again. 

He promised he won't.

I look down and see his hands shaking while he rests them on the table. He's nervous. He has no need to be. I move the plate of brownies towards him, till it rests right in between us. He looks down at the scraping sound and then looks up at me. I gesture towards the plate, taking a sip of my coffee, silently asking him to eat. A very small, almost unnoticeable smile takes over his lips and he picks a piece, biting into it slowly, like he forgot how to eat. 

I lean back a little, trying to catch Lana's attention from here. She looks at me from the cash register and I gesture her to get me a glass of water, she understands and nods at me. I look back at Jordan and see him looking out.

He wants to say something. He wants to say a lot of things. He just doesn't know where to start. He's scared, it's visible in the way he clenches his fists after a few seconds, or swallows air whenever his mouth opens and no words come out. 

Lana comes towards us with a glass of water and places it in front of Jordan, leaving after receiving a small smile from him. He picks up the glass and gulps it down.

Clearing his throat, he places the now empty glass down. "We were all sitting down on the couches after a competition of shots," he starts.

I stiffen, he's starting with the events of the night.

"We both were the only ones at the party, Ian and Anna didn't go that day and Ryan was there so you played beer pong while we chilled out," he continues, his voice rough, "the whole night I say as you kissed him and danced with him and then when he came back, he had this smug look on his face like he had everything and I didn't," his face is filled with anger as he says this, anger that was there for a long time. 

"He sat down next to me, keeping his eyes on you and rubbed it in my face saying how gorgeous you are and how lucky it is he got someone who's good in bed and innocent," he spits out in disgust, "I lost it, I knew he won't do any good for you in that moment and so later that night when he was challenged to cheat on you, I was so in on the bet because all I wanted was for you to leave that fucker," he tells me, creases in his forehead, "and it's not right. I know I should've told you what happened and what was going on but I wanted you to figure out and leave him on your own. I wanted to be the one who was there for you when you left him," his voice softens. 

"And I'm an idiot. I let my jealousy for him and my possessiveness for you get in between my loyalty to you," he looks at me with broken eyes, There are no tears in our eyes, I guess we don't have any left.