Come Break Me Down

Chapter 21

It really pissed me off that she was screaming at me about Arianna! Immediately she jumped up, storming off to her room with me right on her heels. Unfortunately, the door was quickly slammed in my face. Never being one to allow that kind of behavior, I pushed it open and walked over to the window where she was standing. Grabbing her arm, I spun her around and backed her into the wall. "Jared, let go of me right now!" She tried to shrug her arm free.

"Shut up! I'm sick of the attitude!" I raised my voice, making damned sure that she knew I wasn't going to quietly sit back and let her ignore me. "You wouldn't even let me explain things and you just assume shit. I don't give a fuck what she told you, Arianna and I are not seeing each other. Yes, I did fuck her, okay, but it was a long time ago, before you and I were in a real relationship."

Her eyes widened, shocked that I admitted my mistake to her face. I gave her time to get over being angry, but this was bullshit. I had to make her listen to my side of the story and besides, I did nothing wrong.

"Am I supposed to believe that?" She asked, shaking her head.

"Ava, I'm telling you what happened and if you don't believe me, that's your choice. But it's the truth and don't you dare scream at me like that again." I let go of her arm and sat on the bed, glaring up at her. She looked exhausted and I watched a tear slide down her face.

"Why would she come to the house and say that she was supposed to fly out with you? It doesn't make any sense." I could see her running over the events of the past few days in her head.

"To make this happen! She knew that you'd leave and we would fight. This isn't new, Ava. She has been harassing me for a long time. I just didn't want you involved, but she obviously did." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed it to her. "I've got nothing to hide. Look at the text messages."

She scrolled through the messages and looked up. "This doesn't mean anything."

"You know where I am at all times. True, you may not be with me 24/7, but you know that you can call me and get me on the phone almost any time." I watched her lips tremble and tears forming in her eyes. She did love me, that much I knew, but to believe Arianna over me? That's what I was struggling to understand. "Can you really say that you're done that easily? Just walk away from me?"

She didn't answer and I stood up, taking a few steps closer. I rubbed the few wild hairs out of her face. "You know what hurts me the most?" I asked, feeling emotional. She stared down at the floor. "You actually think that I would cheat on you, that I would throw away everything we have for her? If that's what you truly believe, then maybe I should just leave and let you get on with your life. If we don't have trust, then we don't have anything." I walked out and closed the door behind me.