The Happy Ever After Playlist - Abby Jimenez Page 0,78

“I listened to it. So he got drunk and fucked her on a beach. Then she wrote a song about it. It’s messed up, but that just makes her a bitch. It doesn’t make him anything less than a guy who was exercising his God-given right to make bad choices six months before he knew you.”

I let out a breath. “What about the lying?”

Kristen sucked air through her teeth. “He didn’t really lie. He just didn’t tell you. I mean, that doesn’t make it okay, but I gotta be honest, I kind of get it.”

I stared at her, incredulous.

“What? Jason’s a nice guy,” she said, pulling a onesie over the baby’s head. “He’s the kind of person who donates his fucking bone marrow to a stranger. He didn’t want to make you insecure. Was he really going to tell you that a gorgeous rock star showed up at his house in the middle of the night to fuck him when the two of you had only been dating for three days? How would that have gone over?”

She did have a point.

She put the baby in his high chair. “And when she grabbed him, same thing. He probably thought nobody saw it and he was sparing you the visual of a famous train wreck touching his dick. And he’s not special, believe me. She’s always doing shit like that. She’d give the pope a lap dance.” She sat on Josh’s knee and put an arm around his neck.

I mopped at my nose. “You know, maybe I wouldn’t be so upset with him if he’d told me about this without letting TMZ pick it up first.”

“You guys don’t have typical problems, I’ll give you that,” Josh chuckled, pulling on his beer. “Just tell him that from now on he needs to be honest with you so you don’t get blindsided when stuff like this happens.”

I clutched my damp wad of paper towels, miserable. “I did. He said he can’t prepare me for every story the tabloids might make up. He sure as hell could have prepared me for this one, though,” I mumbled.

My phone rang. I picked it up and looked at the screen.

It was him.

My gaze shot to Kristen. I hovered a finger over the Answer Call button. I wanted to hear his voice. Talk to him. But I wanted the old Jason. The one from before. I thought about how he’d been so oblivious to how he’d let this happen, how he’d purposely hid all this from me and how dismissive and unapologetic he’d been.

I sent his call to voicemail and shut off my phone. What could he possibly have to say that would change my mind? The only thing that could make this different was complete and total transparency in our relationship, and he’d made it very clear he had no intention of participating in that.

Kristen shook her head at me. “You only have ten days, Sloan. That’s all you get before his tour. Are you really willing to let this be the thing that breaks you guys up? You can end it now, like this, or calm the fuck down and give him a chance and at least enjoy the time you have left.”

I shook my head. “It’s bigger than that, Kristen. This isn’t just about the next ten days. It’s about whether I’d even consider dating him again when his tour is over. He wants me to wait for him. And you know what? I was actually considering it. I figured, what’s the harm? It’s not like I’m gonna be dating anyway. We can just put our relationship on hold, do what we have to do, stay faithful to each other, and get back together when his tour’s over. And all I can think now is, how much crap will I learn about him this way while he’s gone?”

I wiped at my nose. “Even if I forgive the lying—the omissions, which he didn’t even seem to be sorry about—what about the next time? And there will be a next time. He was right, this shit is going to happen. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do this with him again and again while he purposely keeps me in the dark. I mean, if he didn’t feel like Lola Simone and the song sitting at number two on the damn music charts warranted mentioning, what else isn’t he telling me? Am I just going to find out about his skeletons with everyone else when they hit