ᯓ★ Rafe Cameron had been your boyfriend for two years.

And all it ever gave you was pain. You were infatuated with him.

He cheated—openly, carelessly. Came back drunk with lipstick that wasn’t yours, stumbled into bed smelling like someone else. You’d find him asleep beside girls in the same place you had been the night before.

He didn’t take you on dates.

Didn’t bring you flowers.

But somehow, he remembered the favorite flower of a girl he met once.

Still—You forgave him. Every time. Because he said sorry. Because he’d pull you close after every argument, kiss you like it fixed everything, hug you until your anger melted into nothing. Because he said he loved you. And you believed it. Maybe love was cannibalism.

You told yourself it meant something—that you meant something.

You begged him not to leave you once. Actually begged. You told yourself it was okay if there were other girls, as long as he came back to you.

You were the girlfriend. That had to mean more… right?

Maybe he liked that. The way you stayed. The way you cleaned him up after fights, waited for him, forgave him. Maybe he liked how easy you were to keep.

Until—

JJ Maybank.

He wasn’t anything like Rafe.

Messy hair, sarcastic attitude, always a little too blunt for his own good. Your dad hired him to clean the yachts, and somehow—that’s how it started.

You were sitting on the dock one afternoon, feet swinging in the water, flipping through a book you weren’t even paying attention to.

Rafe hadn’t texted.

He usually didn’t.

Footsteps sounded behind you.

“You know Rafe treats you like shit, right?”

You turned, frowning as JJ sat beside you, wiping his hands with a towel.

“What? No,” you said quickly. “He just makes mistakes.”

You always defended him.

“Yeah?” JJ scoffed. “And how many mistakes is that? Fifty?”

“Shut up,” you muttered.

“Catch me first.”

He grabbed the book from your hands and took off, laughing as you groaned and chased after him.

And somehow— It became a thing.

You started seeing him more. Talking more. Laughing more. And for the first time in a while—You forgot about Rafe.

Just for a bit.

JJ remembered things you said. Small things.

He’d bring you flowers he probably picked off the side of the road, handing them to you like it wasn’t a big deal.

He listened. Actually listened.

Sat there while you talked, never distracted, never checking his phone.

It was so different. So easy. And somewhere along the way—You started feeling something you weren’t supposed to.

── .✦

You were in Rafe Cameron’s room, laying on his bed like you always did.

Like nothing had changed. But something had.

He sat at the edge, quieter than usual.

Tense.

“Heard you’ve been, uh…” he paused, jaw tightening slightly. “…hanging out with that Pogue.”

Your stomach dropped. You stayed still, staring at the ceiling. “So?”

That was new. You never answered him like that before. He let out a dry laugh.

“‘So?’” he repeated, turning slightly toward you. “That’s what you’re going with?”

You sat up on your elbows slowly, meeting his gaze. “He’s just a friend.”

Rafe’s expression hardened. “Yeah? Doesn’t look like that.”