Charlotte's POV
I didn't want to feel this way—but I couldn't help it. Jealousy curled inside me like smoke, slow and suffocating. I hated myself for it. I had no right. Not anymore. Jack and I were over.
I woke away and made that decision the day I found out his big lie. And yet, there he was. Sitting just a few seats away, laughing with our friends, stealing glances when he thought I wouldn't notice.
But I noticed.
And the more I drank, the less I cared. The liquor burned going down, but it numbed the ache in my chest. Made everything hazy, lighter. As if I could float above the mess inside my heart.
The music started, loud and rhythmic, and the others pulled me toward the dance floor. I let them. I needed to lose myself—just for a while. I laughed louder than I normally would, swayed more freely, feeling the weight of my heartbreak melt into the pulsing beat.
That's when he joined me.
Jack.
