I rolled my eyes at her. She just sat back and waited with her arms folded. I scowled and looked away. She was making me remember something I didn't really feel like remembering. It hurt too much.
"I don't know," I finally answered curtly. "She never told me why she fell for me or when. It just happened and maybe we both knew it all along but the confession came later when she felt guilty about betraying Cole."
"How did you first meet her?"
I glared at Jasmine. "What's with the twenty questions?"
She shrugged, unfazed. "I just find it so amazing. You cheated on her and left without a second glance but even after all this time, she still loves your stubborn ass."
My gaze shifted to the slice of cheesecake on a saucer and warmth spread inside my chest, making my lips quirk. "She was eating my cheesecake," I murmured in amusement. "In the middle of the night when Cole first brought her home. I went in the kitchen and... Skye is just so open, so free of guile and deceit. She couldn't hide her attraction to me." I shook my head and smiled some more. "And then she basically told me to go fuck myself when I tried to drive her away. She drove me insane and yet, deep down...I wanted her there. I wanted her with us. She felt right." I let out another sigh. "When we all got together, it was like we just belonged together. Pieces of a puzzle that was then complete."
Jasmine was looking at me in surprise. Maybe because I never talked about Skye. Cole, yes, but never Skye. Her rejection of me was so painful, I usually told myself not to go there.
Jasmine took a while to sip her coffee and then her brows furrowed.
"Can I ask you...what went wrong, then?" she began carefully. "I mean, if you really did feel that way and were so happy, why did you let me...why didn't you just...?" She struggled when she said those words and I blinked at her.
What was happening with this girl? Ever since the moment she had seen those divorce papers from Armaan, it was like something inside her had just snapped. In all the time I had known her, she usually just pushed down all unpleasant emotions and focused on feeling pleasure. But things were so different now. I hadn't known she'd loved Armaan so much. I don't believe even she herself had been aware of how much she loved him till now.
He'd been hers all this time despite the separation and now he wouldn't be. Maybe that affected her more than she let on which accounted for her strange behaviour.
"You want to know why I slept with you?" I asked bluntly.
She nodded, looking me in the eye.
"There's no straight answer for that," I stated. "At first, I just felt some kind of bond, like I knew you'd understand things about me, the darkest parts of me because when I look at you, I sometimes feel like I'm looking into a mirror." I rubbed a hand over my face. "Or maybe it was a reaction from the stroke. I just went wild after my recovery and acted like I wanted to prove how invincible I was, to not feel impotent or helpless. And there was something else too...I can't talk about it, Jasmine. I was at a low point in my life and you became someone I could escape with. At first, it was just sex for me but...then you started to care about me. And I spent so much time with you and realised I wanted you in my life. As a friend."
By the time I stopped speaking, she was staring at my face, appearing somewhat stunned.
"I didn't do it to hurt anyone which was a stupid mentality to have because of course, people would be hurt. Sometimes I even convinced myself that I was doing it for my family but no, it was all me. It was just me being a selfish bastard, thinking they wouldn't find out."
"What do you mean by 'doing it for your family'?" she asked sharply. "How is that related to our affair?"
I swallowed hard, unable to look away from her eyes. "I can't say," I whispered sadly. "It was all a huge mistake. But I'm glad you're here in my life right now, okay. I'm glad I met someone like you. Most people would've left. You could've left after you got what you wanted from me, especially after seeing all my baggage."
Jasmine chewed on her lip thoughtfully and then picked up a piece of fruit to nibble on it. It seemed like she was satisfied with my answers for now.
I took a deep breath to steady myself and announced, "I'm going back to Ireland."
She sat up straight so abruptly, the whole table rattled.
"What? No! You can't just leave again," she protested.
"How is me being here going to help them? Tell me." I frowned at her. "They're married. Skye doesn't want me back. They have a kid together. Cole would never hurt her or leave her for me. He may love us both but he knows Skye needs him more. She was the one who suffered the most in all of this."
I got up determinedly and decided to go pack before I changed my mind.
"Wait, so you're just going to leave me here?" she called out from behind me.
I turned back to her. "You came for the engagement, it's over now. And you saw the result of your matchmaking so I don't need to tell you what a disaster that turned out to be. It's okay if you don't want to go back. I know you hate it there."
She grimaced from her place in the
