BROKEN AND SCREWED(Broken_Part One)(73)

He grabbed his bags and glared at me. “I’m going back home. Marissa took off this morning. She said she couldn’t stand being around me. I took the tickets out of her purse when she was in the bathroom so there you go, you can still watch your boy’s game. Shit.” He shook his head again. “I’m still being the nice guy. I wanted to be with you, but you never gave me the signs. And then Marissa was all over me and I thought, ‘why not? She wouldn’t hurt me,’ but the sad thing is that she did. I cared about her. I actually did. And then this trip happened. This was the trip from hell. I got to watch both girls that I cared about fall all over the *s. That’s what he is, Alex. You know that too. I know you know that. He’s going to break your heart. Why won’t you stop it? I don’t get that. Why do girls like you always go for guys like that? I bet he hasn’t even lied to you about it either, like Cord did with Marissa. He told her upfront that he was going to screw other girls tonight and I know she’ll still go for him if he ever calls her. You do that too. You’re both so weak. You’re spineless.” He held a hand to his stomach. “You make me sick. I can’t even look at you.”
The tickets fell to the floor around my feet, but I couldn’t bend to pick them up. I couldn’t even pick up my own mouth as it fell beside them. My feet were cemented in place as I watched him leave. This was Eric Nathan, the good guy who was never going to hurt me. It was then, as I heard everything he flung at me, that I realized I could’ve been happy with him. He wouldn’t have hurt me as I knew Jesse would. He would’ve been good to me, treated me right. And maybe, even maybe, he might’ve helped me heal from the pain that I had left at home.
Shit.
He walked away from me, but he was right. Everything he said was right. And even as he left through the doors, I knew I’d still go to Jesse that night. But this time was different. This was the last time. I would end it after tonight. I had to, otherwise everyone would be right. I drew in a shuddering breath. I should’ve been crippled by what Eric had said to me, but I wasn’t. Strength started to fill me. I couldn’t explain it. I had no idea why I wasn’t crying or why I wasn’t filled with shame because he’d been right about me. Maybe it was because I knew I had one more night or maybe I was lying to myself. Either way, as I finally bent and picked up the tickets, I knew what I’d have to do.
I’d have to leave Jesse, but not until tomorrow. Tomorrow, I told myself. One more night in his arms, one more night to have everything else pushed away. I could forget for one more night.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I didn’t tell Angie what Eric had said, but I did say that Marissa had left after they had broken up. I expected a snarky comment from her, but she was silent. She only gave me a repressed smile instead. Justin, perfect timing as always, swooped in to literally sweep her off her feet. She shrieked as she threw her arms around his neck. They bounded away, towards the cab, but I heard her laughter a second later.
And then I followed behind. Since Marissa and Eric had both ditched for the rest of the weekend, I promised Angie that I would still go to the game. I knew Jesse wanted me to come as well, but when we got there, I wasn’t ready for the intensity that filled the stadium.
Purple and white were everywhere. There were so many banners for Jesse and Camden, that I couldn’t count them all. My favorite was the one that read ‘Jesse can Hunt me down any day!’ It was surrounded by girls wearing skimpy purple and white tops tied under their breasts, the rest of their bodies were painted in the colors. They all had on tight jean shorts as well, flayed at the ends, with their butt cheeks sticking out.
The stadium was packed; hip hop music blared from the speakers above, but when the team came out, the sound was deafening. I cringed at the screams from the girls when Jesse ran in with Camden. Half were going crazy over Jesse while the other half seemed to cheer for Camden. And the screams never died down, not even when they started playing.