Once A Cheater

by Storm, Zee Shine

  She looked impressed.

  "Do you mind driving?" she asked, going around to the passenger side. "In case we get pulled over, I'd have to show my licence and since I'm not supposed to be hanging out with a strange man without a chaperone, it could lead to problems."

  She sounded so calm and relaxed as she spoke about the customs here while it made me cringe. What kind of outdated country were these people living in? Trying not to roll my eyes, I placed my things in the backseat before getting in the car and starting the engine.

  "So where are we headed?" I asked as I backed out onto the driveway.

  She punched in an address in the GPS system and we were guided by the automated voice to our destination. For about twenty minutes, all I saw was desert land with a few trees and buildings slowly being bathed by the rising sun. Then we passed a quiet street with huge, opulent looking residences before turning a corner towards a long bridge.

  That was when I stopped the car. The ancient-looking wooden bridge was in a secluded end of a residential area and at each end of it, bloomed colourful wild flowers and different varieties of cactus plants. It was in direct contrast to the modernity of the buildings we had just passed, the golden morning sunshine slowly ascending on it while a tiny stream glistened below.

  That bridge was probably the only beautiful thing in this godforsaken place.

  "Will this do? For nature shots and stuff?" Jasmine asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

  I smiled a little and nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

  I was getting out of the car when she said, "Hey. If anyone tries to shoot you or arrest you, don't tell them you're here with me, okay?"

  Pausing, I opened my mouth a little in shock. "Why would anyone-?"

  I stopped abruptly when I caught her smirk. Of course she was kidding. Probably picked up on my dislike for their authoritarian systems. This woman was intuitive as hell.

  I said nothing as I set up my equipment and took some shots while she waited in the car. It was obvious that she didn't have to come with me because I would've been fine if she had just given me the keys and the address. But I got the feeling that she was hiding from something. Or someone. Again.

  Sighing, I put her out of my mind and concentrated on doing my work. The sooner we got out of this strange country, the better. Cole and Skye seemed to love it though. I had no idea why but for their sake, I kept my resentment to a minimum.

  ****

  Cole

  "Where's Jasper?" was the first thing Skye asked me when she woke up that morning.

  I was reading a book and sipping on lemon juice, showered and dressed at seven a.m due to long-standing habit. One of the maids employed by Armaan's family had brought up a trolley of breakfast. This place was the works.

  "Out, I guess," I mumbled, knowing exactly where he was because my Instagram notification had popped up a few minutes ago when he had uploaded some pictures of a bridge a few kilometers away.

  How did he get there? And did he come on this holiday just so he could avoid spending time with us whenever possible? Also, a bottle of the scotch Armaan had given us was missing. I knew Skye and I hadn't touched it. After his stroke, I wished Jasper would be more mindful of his drinking habits.

  Skye got out of bed and walked over to me to place a kiss on my cheek. "It was a good night, huh?" she murmured and I smiled. Yeah.

  She took a sip of my lemon juice, made a sound of appreciation at the flavour and then headed off towards the bathroom. The three of us had been given adjoining rooms. Armaan had introduced us to his family as a married couple, Skye and I, while Jasper was supposed to be another friend. But at night, we all just slept in the same bed. I knew it bugged Jasper to always be the one who was introduced as a spare and given a separate room but the guy had to know it didn't matter what people thought. Him, Skye and I were always going to be a team.

  And...our baby.

  I placed my glass on the low table beside me because my hands shook a little at the thought. I was panicking. I had started to panic the moment Skye had told us she was pregnant three days ago. I couldn't even congratulate her or dredge up a smile because the sudden and unexpected news had floored me.

  Jasper, on the other hand, had picked her up and swirled her around while kissing her passionately and more than making up for my lukewarm response.

  I couldn't help how I felt. Of course I was happy because Jasper and Skye seemed happy. But I didn't respond well to huge changes being sprung on me just when I was getting used to one situation. It had been that way since my childhood.

  How I loved these two for putting up with me and being so patient. It made me feel a little ashamed because I kept feeling like I was not ready to be father. I didn't want an addition to our trio just yet. It was too damn soon.

  ****

  Skye

  I really, really loved this place. Amira. Armaan's childhood home. His family. They were all so accommodating.

  And last night, at his nephew's birth celebration, dressing up and immersing myself in their culture had felt amazing. I hadn't expected to enjoy myself so much. Armaan's mum was British and entertained me with stories of her life for a good while. And Armaan himself was such a perfect host which I was already aware of, of course. He kept making sure we were comfortable and having a good time. Even Cole loved it. Although he was more interested in the architecture of this huge place and the designs which resembled nothing short of grand hotel-like decor.

  But Jasper...my hands paused in the act of brushing my teeth. Ever since he had gotten in that limo two days ago, he had become distant. I mean, he slept with us in the same bed and ate meals with us but he remained fidgety. Like he was dying to get out of here.

  It wasn't surprising for me. I mean, the guy had been glued to a wheelchair for three months and had only just recovered a few weeks ago. Of course he would feel restless and want to make up for lost time. Staying put was probably torture for him now.

  We hadn't spoken about the pregnancy since arriving at Armaan's house. I knew there was a lot to be discussed. It was better to do it when this holiday was over and we were back on home turf.

  Cole and I hadn't had sex with Jasper either for some reason. I found that really strange. First night, we had been too exhausted and unable to relax with the fresh news of my pregnancy hanging over our heads so all of us had gone straight to bed. And last night, Cole and I had made love after coming back from the ceremony while Jasper had taken ages in the shower and then when he had finally come to bed, I had been so tired again. The lethargy and exhaustion crept in from time to time due to the early stage of my pregnancy. Cole had already fallen asleep and when I turned to Jasper to kiss him, he kissed me back thoroughly, clearly very aroused but still told me to get some rest.

  My heart had more or less melted at his thoughtfulness.

  Tonight though, I was going to ravish Jasper Wells. Along with Cole. I was used to having them both in bed with me by now so the idea never seemed daunting. As I stepped out of the bathroom, running my fingers through my hair and feeling hungry, Jasper finally appeared in the room, walking towards a table near the window and placing his equipment there as he murmured a greeting to Cole and I while wearing a grim expression on his face which almost bordered on anger.

  I shook my head at his grouchiness and called out cheerfully, "Hey, Wells. Oscar the Grouch called. He wants his trashcan back."

  Cole started to chuckle and Jasper raised his eyes to give me a look that promised retribution for my snarky comment. A thrill ran through me as usual. I loved getting under his skin.

  "So where'd you go this morning?" Cole asked him casually as he poured some coffee for Jasper and orange juice for me. "Baby, what do you feel like eating?" He directed the next question at me.

  I shrugged. "Anything that doesn't have chicken in it," I answered and went over to join them. Chicken made me nauseous now.

  Cole passed me some milk and cereal while I waited for Jasper to answer the question. As far as I knew, he d
idn't know anybody here and hadn't bothered to make friends. Just yesterday he complained that there were no good places here for him to take photos. So it did make me curious where he had gone and what pictures he had taken. There was nothing but sand around here for miles.

  Jasper drank his coffee and grabbed a pastry off the tray. "Jasmine took me to this bridge nearby. Got some great shots."

  I stared at him. So did Cole. Jasper stopped chewing the pastry and stared right back.

  "What?" he finally asked as silence fell in the room.

  "Did you say Jasmine took you?" Cole asked him in surprise. "Jasmine Khan?"

  Jasper leaned back in his chair and pursed his lips. "Do we know any other Jasmines?" he drawled and took another bite of his pastry.

  "Why would you go with her?" I blurted out, unable to help myself.

  He blinked at me. "She offered to take me. Nobody else seemed to care that I was going crazy trying to find some inspiration around here."

  I put down my cereal, not at all hungry anymore.

  Cole studied Jasper for a moment. "Baby. We can go back if you don't like it here. Seriously. Fuck the holiday. I don't want you to be miserable just for our sake."

  Jasper grinned at Cole. "You'd really do that for me, wouldn't you?" he murmured and I saw the love in his eyes for our mutual boyfriend. "No, it's okay. We'll leave when we are supposed to. I'm sorry I've been an ass."

  "What's new?" I muttered with a scowl. So he had been hanging out with Jasmine all morning. Was that really necessary?

  "Hey, Skye?" Jasper said softly. "Oscar the Grouch called..."

  I glared at him and he and Cole both burst out laughing. Ugh. Men!

  ****

  Chapter Six

  Jasmine

  I walked towards my room after my sneak-out session with Jasper, removing my sunglasses and hoodie and making sure I did not look suspicious. Many of the maids were around doing chores and I didn't want there to be gossip.

  Last night, Armaan had not said a word to me about me playing rookie during Ziad's birth celebration. Granted, I had pretended to be asleep by the time he came up to avoid confrontation. And this morning, he had been snoring when I had crept out of the room. We couldn't take separate bedrooms over here. Maybe that was what had me on edge. Sharing the bed with him after months of sleeping on my own. I halted as the bedroom door opened and a cold feeling ran through my body when I saw Hamza walk out while still talking to my husband.

  Hamza.

  I almost blacked out. So intense was the grief that swept through me. And the bitterness. This man...had taken the sweetest, most innocent parts of me and twisted it into something so ugly, I found it hard to trust anyone now. Here was the reason my faith in love and lasting relationships had completely evaporated. My skin crawled whenever he was mentioned these days and I simply wanted to run away.

  I hadn't seen him in ten months. He had grown thin, more severe-looking but still as handsome as ever. Shit. Why? Why now? I wasn't ready for this. He turned suddenly and met my eyes, his face growing ashen as he realised whom he was looking at after so long. My mouth went dry. Hamza swallowed a little and stepped towards me tentatively.

  "Jasmine. How are-?"

  "No." I held up a hand and stopped him mid-sentence. "Don't you dare talk to me. Don't ask me how I am. I don't even want to look at you much less speak to you right now."

  He seemed shocked that I had said those words to him. Given our illicit relationship in the past, discretion had always been our main goal. And now I was just lashing out as if I didn't care. Because I didn't. Let people think whatever they wanted because I was done pretending with this man.

  "Jas, listen to me, I-"

  "Fuck you," I said slowly and showed him my middle finger before brushing past my husband to go inside our room.

  Armaan, who had been standing there studying us with a quiet, somber expression on his face, closed the door softly as I began to shed my clothes.

  "When did you two start getting so brotherly?" I rounded on him, shooting him a glare.

  He regarded me with disappointment in his gaze. "In case you have forgotten, I have made several trips to Amira to build that mosque and visit my family over the past ten months. Hamza and I are...not on bad terms anymore. He has apologized to me and we just want peace now."

  I rolled my eyes. "Oh, goody. How amazing for you."

  He gave me a pained look as I flopped backwards on the bed. "What is going on with you?" he asked in a low voice before coming to sit beside me on the bed.

  "I want to go back to Italy," I maintained stubbornly. "I hate your brother. I hate this place. I can't stay here any longer. These people drive me insane."

  "These people are my family," he bit out. "If he can put your involvement with him in the past, why can't you? What you did just now, Jasmine, anyone could have heard you and it would've gotten back to my mother or his wife."

  I laughed bitterly. "Well maybe he deserves it. He fucked me up from the inside out and now he wants to play happy family with you all and pretend like I meant nothing. Well, fuck him!"

  "God, what is your problem?!" Armaan yelled at me all of a sudden and got to his feet. "You've been so bitchy to me since we decided to come here and-"

  "We didn't decide anything. You did. By manipulating me, as usual."

  Armaan gave me a shocked look. "How have I manipulated you?"

  I rolled my eyes again. "You don't even realise you're doing it, huh? You are perfect, Aaru, in so many ways but this isn't the first time you have taken advantage of my kindness to get me to do something I clearly told you I'm not comfortable doing."

  Armaan was breathing heavily, his fists clenching and unclenching. I knew he wanted to hit something. Or throw something. He was barely holding onto his temper.

  But instead, he clutched his hair and then rubbed at his eyes. "You won't even let me in," he said softly, regarding me with misery. "I try so hard, Jasmine. I want us to have a beautiful life together. I want us to have it all. You lost your parents. I thought you'd appreciate me trying to make sure you have a family here. That you belong."

  I bit my lip, feeling like I wanted to have a good, hard cry. "I know you mean well. You always do. But your methods are wrong, Armaan. I just want you to leave me alone."

  "Like I've been doing for the past ten months?" he questioned aggressively. "I've given you nothing but space since the day we got married."

  I sighed. "I need more time."

  He scowled at me. "You wouldn't if you loved me," he jerked out.

  "That's not fair. You know I care about you. Don't force me to-"

  "Fine," he snapped and grabbed his phone. "You know what? Take your fucking space. Take all the space you want, Jasmine. Book a flight back to Italy. Go be with your buddy, Alex and travel the globe getting high and drunk while doing God knows what behind my back. That's what you want, right? Your freedom? You're welcome to it."

  I stared at him aghast. "What the fuck do you mean by 'doing God knows what behind my back'?" I cried out. "How dare you? I have never cheated on you."

  He raised his eyebrows at me sardonically and the blood drained from my face. Shit. He was thinking of the time when we first got married and I was still seeing Hamza.

  "Armaan...I loved him...I made a mistake," I told him as my voice shook and tears started to stream down my face against my bloody will.

  He wasn't moved. The man who couldn't bear to see tears in a person's eyes made no move to comfort me as I sat there crying. He just looked at me as if he did not care anymore and did exactly what I had asked him to do.

  He left me alone. Left me to wallow in my misery and self-disgust.

  He was right though. He made all the effort while I did nothing but enjoy the sex and further my career. The one thing he craved the most was love and it was also the very thing I denied him. My heart broke a little as I slowly realised that I had no business being with him and ruining his life while I dealt with all my baggage. Armaan was t
oo much in love with me to let me go willingly. Maybe if he hated me, he would be forced to kick me out of his life and be able to say 'good riddance'. I knew that was exactly what I deserved.

  Everything about me was so fucked up.

  ****

  Chapter Seven

  Jasper

  "I didn't know you were so chummy with Jasmine."

  I looked over at Skye who had followed me into the bathroom after breakfast and was now watching me shave. Cole had gone downstairs saying he was going to talk to some friends. God only knew who he meant. It could be anyone from Armaan's family members to the people who worked here.

  "Why does it bother you so much?" I asked my girlfriend carefully as I rinsed out my razor and carefully grazed it along my jaw.

  "I just don't like her, Jasper. I don't think you should be hanging out with her."

  I frowned at her reflection in the mirror. "I thought she was your idol. What happened?"

  Skye shrugged, looking adorable in her pink camisole and white shorts. "I get this bad vibe from her for some reason," she murmured.

  I rinsed out my razor again and raised an eyebrow at her in the mirror. "Bad vibe?"

  Skye gave me a scowl. "Don't mock me, Jasper. I just don't get why out of all the people in this place, you suddenly decided to get cosy with Armaan's wife," she grumbled.

  Sighing, I placed the shaver down and turned to her. So...she was jealous. That's what the problem was. "You have no idea what it's like for me sometimes, do you?"

  She gave me a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

  I folded my arms across my chest. "You and Cole...it's so easy for you to make friends. People adore you. Cole's always been able to win hearts with his charming personality and you might not be so outgoing but you're such a sweetheart."