Jaded

Revealed

The roof terrace was cool as the sun began to set. He could barely wrap his head around what the hell had just happened. Kat was aggressively flirting with him, stroking her long nails up and down his thigh, no doubt some test to see if he was really planning on 'turning over a new leaf'.

But right at that moment, he couldn't have cared less about convincing anyone of anything.

"Suresh... it's just us here." Kat purred. "We could... get to know each other better?"

Suresh shot her an unamused look, and folded his arms over his chest. "Kat... just... don't."

She sighed. "I swear to God, I have never been rejected in my life up until Love Island. This is ridiculous."

Suresh rolled his eyes, knowing almost for certain it wasn't true; her deep insecurity probably stemming from rejection of some sort or another. Romantic, friendship, a parent... She was full of it.

"Kat, really. You're gorgeous, but I'm really not in the mood."

Kat huffed, and crossed her arms, pouting. "Why are you boys all so bloody hung up on Jade, anyway? Kickin' off like absolute baboons. She ain't even that hot."

Suresh shot her the same unamused look, and she smiled. "Yeah, yeah, alright, she's pretty hot. But seriously, she got a fucking magic pussy or something?"

He laughed, loudly, and shook his head. "Not that it'd be any of your business to know anything about her pussy, but it's not that. She's just..." he hesitated. "She's perfect. In every single way, she's just perfect."

"Uhhh, perfect?" Kat scoffed. "I think not? She's vain, she's up herself, she's indecisive, she refuses to talk about her feelings. Like any feelings, at all. She just pretends everything's fun and fine and dandy and laughs it off. She does this really annoying ahhh sound after she brushes her teeth, she never washes up her coffee mug, she just leaves it in the sink. And, and ..."

Suresh smiled to himself as Kat continued to list the things that annoyed her about Jade. He couldn't imagine anything better than finding Jade's coffee mug in his sink again, the crusted rim of the chocolate powder she'd sprinkled on top of it always such an effort to scrub off. The gentle smack of her toothbrush as she set it down on their bathroom counter, clicking her tongue and making the exact sound Kat had described.

God, it hurt. Every time these memories flooded back into his mind it gave him second of blissful peace. A portal into a universe where he'd never thrown it all away. The memories became more and more of an ache in his stomach.

"Regardless," Suresh interrupted, just as Kat was complaining about Jade's travel stories. "Of what you think of her, she's perfect for me."

Kat sighed. "No. She's not. Maybe she was, once, but the second you stick your dick in someone else, you're choosing not to be with her. So if you think you're getting back in her pants, I'd recommend just forgetting her and moving on."

Suresh sighed. "If I was capable of forgetting about her, I would've already."

"So, what, you're just gonna keep torturing yourself, watching her hook up with every boy on this island, just on the off chance it does enough for her to see you're serious? And then what, she forgives you?"

"It's not a great plan, I'll admit." Suresh chuckled.

Kat frowned at him, furrowing her brow. "I'll be honest with ya, I just thought you wanted to get back in her pants. But I think, if you still have genuine feelings for her... then fuck everyone else. Including me, and everything I've said. Go after what you want. You want her? Get in bed with her. Stop running away. D'you want to be with her? For real?"