chapter three

"Then talk. Say what you want to say, Nick," Jessica said, her voice full of pain. Nick didn't seem to notice her emotions. They were the least of his concerns as he glanced toward his apartment, noticing the same girl watching from the window.

"What you saw today..." he began, but Jessica interrupted him.

"What I saw was exactly what I was supposed to see. It was the only eye-opener that would help me understand the bastard I thought was my boyfriend was just a stupid, stinking cheater. Do you really think whatever excuse you've cooked up would convince me that what I saw was a mistake? I'm never going to forgive you for this, Nick Thomas!"

"Who said I was asking for forgiveness?" the man asked, his tone so serious it shook Jessica to the core. Could there really be monsters like him?

"I only came here to tell you that whatever you saw should remain a secret. That girl up there was just a one-night stand, and she fears that if you spread rumors about what you witnessed today, things might take a wrong turn for her. I don't even know why you came to my house in the middle of the night in the first place," Nick said emotionlessly.

"What?!" Jessica managed to stutter, in such shock and disbelief that she felt as though the man standing before her was totally different from the one she thought she knew. The one she fell in love with.

"You know very well that I hate surprise visits. I didn't even invite you to my house. Why would you show up in the middle of the night unannounced? What the fuck is wrong with you virgin girls?" he ranted, as though he wasn't just talking about his emotions but what he had been feeling for a long time.

"Virgins?" Jessica asked, remembering her first time with him. Why was he now calling her a virgin? A lot didn't make sense, especially Nick's behavior. Jessica had never seen this side of his toxicity. Even though she had seen negativity from her boyfriend before, it was never to this extent.

"Yes, virgins. I fuck you once and you suddenly think we're dating. You mean nothing to me. Why would you put a title on us when I never even asked you to be my girl?" Nick said confidently.

Jessica couldn't help but step back. All the information was too much to process, and she needed space away from the toxicity of the situation.

Waving her hand across the road, she tried to signal for a taxi to stop. Nick moved forward, his large fingers wrapping around her small waist as he turned her around. She was crying, tears flowing non-stop, and the pain inside her heart only seemed to grow.

"Oh great. There come the silly tears," Nick said mockingly, rolling his eyes in frustration as he stared at the girl he now seemed to despise. Her tears set him off. "Do you know how stupid and weak you look when you cry? Every time you start some new drama, you start crying like a little girl. Wipe those fucking tears away." His voice was rough and his demands firm.

He didn't speak as though he was making requests or needed to apologize. Nick was talking to Jessica as though he had every right to be mad at her for being vulnerable and heartbroken. Could the culprit really turn himself into the victim here? That was, after all, his best skill. He knew how to turn the blame around and become a completely different person.

"Taxi! Taxi!" Jessica managed to call out, completely ignoring Nick. She knew that the minute she got into a car, away from his presence and his company, she would cry her heart out. There was no denying that what happened to her here was a memory she would never forget.

"Hey, just remember what we've talked about. Don't tell anyone about that chick you've seen me with," he said.

There it was again, his other toxic trait. Taking his own word as final. Had they really discussed it? Had they discussed keeping what had happened there a secret? Nick had that weird behavior of assuming that what he said was final.

"What am I to you?" Jessica finally gained the courage to ask, her mind still racing around everything Nick had just said. She couldn't believe it. Had she really built up all those castles in the air? Had she really created her own imaginary boyfriend and convinced herself that Nick Thomas would love her? She should have seen it from the beginning. She should have known from all the rumors and the reputation that Nick Thomas had. He was a man of the women. Every girl in town knew him. Every man wanted to become him. The tons of money he always made from all the bike races he organized painted the picture of a perfect man to every woman in the city. Even though he was a young 24-year-old, he had gained a lot of admiration from even the older gender. Did Jessica really think that she was special? Did she actually believe that one specific night would acquire the man of her dreams?

And when Nick Thomas opened his mouth to answer that question, Jessica would have sworn her world tore apart. Even though she expected a heartbreaking answer, she didn't expect it to come to such lengths. She didn't believe that it would be of such magnitude. She had already braced herself and prepared herself for the worst. Emotionally and mentally, Jessica was ready to hear something that would tear her apart. But being prepared in the mind was far different from hearing the actual thing. There was nothing in this world that would have prepared her for the cruel 13 words that Nick Thomas spoke.

"Nothing! You're simply just one girl whose pants I wanted to get into."