16
Jacoby
I was surprised that I hadn’t worn a hole in the floor with how much I’d paced over the last couple of hours. I was too anxious to sit and far too angry to sleep. And the longer it went without hearing from Tasha, the more anxious and angrier I became.
It’d gotten so bad that by the time my phone finally rang, I was fuming. I couldn’t even speak to answer it. I just accepted the call and held the receiver to my ear, waiting for her to say something.
“Hello?” she asked, sounding almost confused. “Jacoby? Are you there?”
“Yeah. What’s up?” I knew I was being ridiculous and dramatic, but I was too far gone to rein it in. I’d had a lot of time to overthink and come up with every worst-case scenario I could imagine. I’d even gone as far as to believe that the whole thing had been a lie, that there was no Tasha, and this whole thing was nothing more than a game to Tiffany.
No amount of logic could’ve saved me from my paranoid thoughts.
“Is everything okay?” Her worried voice flooded my ear and created a whirlwind of conflicting emotions inside. And because of that, the only response she got was uh-huh, followed by more silence. “Are you sure, because you don’t sound like everything’s fine.”
“I’m just tired.” I wanted to add that I’d stayed up waiting for her call, but I felt like that would be too much, so I dropped it.
Her heavy sigh broke the silence. “Well, from your short answers and the fact that you never came over, I assume that means you know about Adam being here?”
“I did come over, but I quickly turned around when I saw that you had company.”
“Why are you mad? It’s not like I knew he was coming.”
“Well, I didn’t know it was Adam at first. Jessa was the one who suggested I look him up to see if it’s the same person. After that, I didn’t know what to think. And to be honest with you, I still don’t. For all I know, you’ve been lying to me this entire time.” Now that I’d said it out loud, I had to admit how ludicrous it sounded.
“I was on the couch, playing my game and waiting for you to come over when Adam and Ty walked in. Unannounced, may I add.” Her words were fiery and stern, like a boulder wrapped in flames. “Having Adam here for the weekend to tag along with me while I filmed was Tiff’s idiotic solution to the issue I’ve been dealing with on set. They didn’t tell me ahead of time because they knew I would never agree to it, so they ambushed me instead.”
The anger that flooded her tone had completely silenced me. No longer was it my own emotion that had held my tongue but hers. Guilty people became defensive when faced with the accusation of their crimes. But that wasn’t the case with Tasha. Her ire wasn’t born from guilt; it was created by the lack of trust that I’d shown her. This was her verbally giving me the middle finger.
“I literally just got to my room. I called you the first chance I got—before I even washed my face.” She paused to take a deep breath, and when she spoke again, she sounded calmer, more defeated than angry. “I don’t know what I’ve done to make you question me. Obviously, if I had some hidden agenda, I wouldn’t have invited you over knowing that Adam would be here.”
“Where are you now?” It was the worst question to ask, but it was burning my tongue, so I had to get it out.
“In my room.”
“Which is Adam’s room, right? Haven’t you been sleeping in your sister’s bed?”
“Yeah, Jacoby. And he’s right here with me, listening to everything I’m telling you.” I knew right then and there that I’d royally messed things up with her. And that was proven when she added, “I don’t have time for this. I have an early morning followed by a long and busy day, so I should get to bed. I’ll talk to you later.”
And with that, the call ended.
Ten minutes ago, I was angry with Tasha, but now, I was furious with myself. I should’ve never accused her of anything. All I had to do was hear her out, and everything would’ve been fine. But I was guilty of having moments of being a hothead. This happened to be one of those moments.
It was definitely not my finest hour.
I thought I couldn’t sleep before, but that was nothing compared to the insomnia I suffered from now. I ended up lying in bed for over an hour, berating myself for being so hard on Tasha. The fear of being in the spotlight again had blinded me from reality. Had I spent ten seconds thinking about it, I would’ve been able to see that Adam randomly showing up at his own house was more plausible and made more sense than Tiffany fabricating a twin sister just to mess with me. I seriously was an idiot sometimes.
It was late, almost midnight, and I knew that Tasha had an early morning, so the last thing I wanted to do was wake her up. But I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing, so I got my phone and spent nearly half an hour typing out a text.
I told her how sorry I was, and that she didn’t deserve my anger. Then I explained the thoughts that had gone through my head between the time I saw her and Adam on the couch and when she finally called. Without excusing—or attempting to excuse—my reaction, I tried to explain that my past was riddled with people who had lied to me. People I’d looked up to, people I had trusted with my life. And they weren’t little lies, either. The lasting effects of those deceptions were lifelong. Again,
