Eight years earlier...
“Come on, man, let’s just go somewhere and have some fun instead,” Jared whined, dragging out the last word like a kid begging to skip chores. His tone, half pleading and half amused, only made me roll my eyes harder than I already had been. “I’m sure Cassandra would love to entertain you,” he added with a knowing grin, bumping his shoulder into mine as he spoke.
“Just like she does everyone else,” I muttered, my voice sharper than I intended. I tried to keep it light, tried to brush it off like it didn’t bother me, like it didn’t dig under my skin every time her name came up. But I couldn’t quite fake the indifference, not fully. It didn’t power all the way through. Not anymore.
I was tired. Tired of the games, the endless back-and-forth, the exhausting rollercoa
