Triple the Love

Feeling Betrayed

Hank

“Ugh,” I groaned as I rolled onto my back. The soft sunlight flittered through the gap in the curtains. It had been days since everything had blown up, and I was still angry. Angrier than I could have expected to be. It wasn’t the kind of anger that blazed hot and fast and then fizzled out after a good yell. No, this was a slow burn and the kind of anger that sat heavy on my chest. Simmering beneath the surface. An eruption waiting to explode at any given moment. I closed my eyes as I thought back to how everything had played out. My heart was broken, and I was more than disappointed. I kept trying to think about it from Corey’s perspective. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to be torn between two people. But every time I thought about it, it made me angrier. I just could not get past the fact that he had lied to us. Strung us both along like we didn’t matter. As if we were just options on a menu that he could pick and choose from whenever it felt like it. Suddenly, my phone went off, and I let out another groan as I grabbed the device off the bedside table. It was a text from Jake.

Jake: Morning, man. I hope you aren’t wallowing in self-pity on your day off. You are officially invited for lunch, so get out of bed, take a shower, and come on over.

I hadn’t been able to tell Jake what had happened with Corey. I had merely told him that we had broken up. It had seemed like the easiest way to explain things without going into all the messy details. Especially since it was over for me. There was no coming back from what Corey had done. I simply couldn’t trust him again. Not after what he had done. What hurt me the most was how blindsided I felt. I had known there was something wrong, something off, but I never could have imagined that he was dating us both. Lying to us both. It hurt because I cared about him. I loved him. But none of that seemed to matter now. There was, of course, another part of me that wondered what he had hoped to achieve that night. Had he finally made his decision? I couldn’t help but admit to myself that he probably had. Corey had made his choice, and he wanted Jack. I wasn’t enough.

“Ugh,” I groaned once again as I got out of bed. Jake meant well, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend the day with him, Alessa, and their newborn baby. And, of course, my mind went right back to the dilemma in my life. The worst part was that I couldn’t even hate Jack. I wanted to, but Jack wasn’t the enemy in all of this. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just as much a victim of Corey’s indecision as I was. I even tried to consider thinking about Jack as more than a friend to try and see it from Corey’s perspective, but Jack just wasn’t my type.

Hank: Not wallowing, but not today, Jake. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.

I sent off the message and I immediately felt guilty. Jake was doing what he always did, and I was being a jerk. It didn’t change anything. The truth was that I had started to picture a future with Corey. And now it all felt like a lie. There was a knock at the door, and I frowned. My heart skipped a beat as I considered that it might just be Corey. In my haste to get to the door, I slipped on the tiled floor with my socked feet and groaned in pain as my hip hit the floor hard. I managed to get myself up and hurried to answer the door. It wasn’t Corey. It was Alastair.

“Morning, man,” Alastair greeted me with a concerned look on his face. I groaned as I turned away and headed to the kitchen. I heard Alastair shut the door behind him as he followed me inside. “So…I…ah…heard about what happened,” he said conversationally, and I ignored him as I put on the kettle for coffee. My jaw tightened because, of course, he had heard. Not only was this Chasea, but his husband’s best friend was Corey. It didn’t matter, I didn’t want to talk about it.

“I’m fine,” I muttered. Alastair sighed loudly from behind me, but I wasn’t interested.

“Look, Hank…I know you are angry, and you have every right to be…Corey f****d up,” it was as if he was merely stating the obvious and I just didn’t want to talk about it. “And I get that you are hurt,” he continued. I spun around and shook my head.

“I do not want to talk about it,” I stated firmly. Alastair studied me for a moment, and then he shook his head.

“I’m not here to try and get in your business, Hank. I just…you are my friend, and I wanted to make sure you are ok,”

“Do I look ok?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Hank…” his voice trailed off, and I sighed loudly as I clenched my fists at my sides.

“You warned me, you told me to be careful…but I didn’t want to believe it…and now here we are…so yes, I am angry. I’m hurt. But I’m done,” I said bitterly. Alastair nodded, his expression was somber.

“I get it,” he whispered, and I wanted to argue with him.

“No, you don’t,” I snapped. “Because you weren’t the one who got played. You weren’t the one who thought things were going somewhere, only to find out that you were just an option,” Alastair didn’t say anything to that as he continued to watch me. His expression was hard and then he sighed softly.

“I just don’t want you to…look, just take care of yourself, Hank,” he said before he walked right out of my kitchen and my house. I stared after him, the anger still churning in my gut. I sighed as I sent another quick text to Jake.

Hank: I’ll be there in about an hour.

If everyone had heard the news, I had to tell Jake. Maybe he could help me get past the anger or something.