Chapter 72: Jealousy vs Envy

*Holy shit!*

Julian’s flawless acting may have given nothing away but tiny needles that poked at Jack’s sensitive spots, successfully triggering the younger man and taking all of his power not to lash out at the person I called my boyfriend.

Alex could feel the tension in the air but Mason was completely oblivious to it, his jolly attitude wiping clean the aggression without even realizing it. “Our lil lady is growing up! Feels like yesterday you were nothing but a loudmouthed, hotheaded teenage girl. Yet again…” he put his
hand to his chin and tilted his head questionably. “You still kinda are.”

“HEY! Asshole, I ain’t no teenage girl!” I sassily shouted at him.

Alex snorted. “Still loudmouthed and hotheaded.”

If I was in an anime then steam would’ve been whistling from my ears from my grumpy seething. “Fuck all ya’ll fuckers.” Alex burst out laughing at my reaction.

Mason gave Julian’s back a few rough pats, hard enough that it shook my body too since his arm was still wrapped around me. “How about I get ya a drink, husband-to-be?”

Julian finally released me from his strong grip when he gladly accepted Mason’s offer and he grabbed him a cold beer from his icy cooler he always kept loaded with his favorite drinks. I ran my fingers through my messy hair with a groan.

*For fuck’s sake.*

I peeked over to Jack who had fallen silent. He was looking away from us with an expression on his face that spoke of his distaste and frustration.

*Jackie…*

I felt my throat get tight with pity and regret. I regretted ever showing him affection. I should’ve known better but I was in a maze of my own emotions at the time and didn’t know what’s what or how to handle it. And now that I do, I know that my affection for Jack was more ‘brother’ related than my own stepbrother. As much as it kills me to admit it, I knew who I was attracted to out of all the people in my life was Julian.

As Mason got Alex and Julian to start drinking with him, he offered me a beer but I declined because I hated beer. I’m taken by surprise when Jack accepts the drinking offer when given the chance.

*Why do I feel like this will end very badly?*

I was given a good reason to stay sober this time. I had no idea what Julian was like when he was drunk but I did know that Jack lacks restraint with his thoughts when he shitfaced.

“So how long have you known our lil SuSu?” Alex plays that ‘investigator’ role out of habit. His voice had a bit of a slur in it.

“For a few months now.” Julian answered honestly, I didn’t hear a hint in his voice that he was getting anywhere near drunk.

*Damn. He had quite a few already. I guess the dude can really hold his shit.*

“A few *MONTHS?*” Jack’s voice sounded the drunkest out of all of them.

Ah, shit. Here we go again. I rubbed my temple as I could feel a headache fueled by frustration coming. I didn’t even have to look at Julian to know that he had been triggered behind his pretty face.

“We’ve known Suki for a *lifetime* and you decided to claim her heart in just a few months?? Nonsense. Nonsense, nonsense, shit nonsense.” you could even tell Jack was drunk by his tone, his face flushed.

Our other two friends were taken off guard by Jack’s sudden passive aggression towards Julian. Mason was the one who spoke first to him. “Hey, if that’s what our lil lady wants then we should respect that, aight?”

Jack scoffed with sarcasm as if he had just heard a funny joke.

“Dude, chill out…” Alex hushed him. He didn’t have to say ‘before you start a scene’ because you could see it in his eyes.

Before Jack could say anything smart in return, everybody jumped at the sudden, loud cracking sound of an empty beer can in Julian’s hand. He couldn’t resist his smile having a warning in it. “I think you’ve drunk too much, Jack. It’s best if you slow down now.”

I silently hoped that Jack would take the warning to heart but I already knew damn well that ain’t happening. Especially not when Jack’s drunk. As much as I wanted to step in, whose side was I supposed to choose? My lifelong friend or the man that I can slowly feel myself becoming obsessed over? I don’t want to upset Julian but at the same time… I can’t leave Jack in the dust like that.

Jack lacked that kind of strength and just instead threw his half-emptied third can to the ground. “Don’t tell me what to fu–” he belched, “do!”

“Jackie, chill out!” Mason got between him and Julian but Jack pushed him to the side as he swayed. It almost looked like Julian was waiting for him to approach him and fuck did I not want to see what happened next.

“Fuck’s sake, STOP!!!” I finally screamed, making them all freeze and shut up with wide eyes. I released a disappointed huff. “Fuck, I was really looking forward to this, ya know?” There were no sides I could take. The only thing I could think of was breaking up the fight through separation. “I didn’t come here for this shit. I’ll text ya’ll later. Julian,” I grabbed his wrist and tugged at it. “Let’s go.”

Mason and Alex looked disappointed but Jack looked devastated.

“Suki, wait!” The only time Jack’s voice didn’t slur was when he called my name. I stopped to listen to what he had to say, the squeeze on my hand telling me that Julian didn’t approve.

“Yeah? What?” My tone was no different from usual and it made him fall quiet as if he forgot what he was going to say or lacked the nerve to do so.

Within the silence, Mason cleared his throat and spoke to me instead. “Before you go, SuSu, a word? Privately?”

I released Julian’s hand and walked after Mason farther away from our little hangout around the burning barrel. The sober was practically snapped back into him after the sudden confrontation. “Listen, Su, about Jack… I’d like to say don’t take his outburst personally but…”

“The guy is in love with you and has been for fuckin’ forever.” Alex chimed in, catching the both of us off guard but nobody was as surprised as me.

“Wait– what? Since when??” this whole time, Jack had been nothing but a close friend to me until recently… when my mess with Julian began.

“We didn’t tell you because we thought you’d figure it out on your own.” Mason shrugged.

“But we forgot you’re a little dense in that category.” Alex chimed in again.

“Fuck the both of you.” I sassily snapped. “How the hell was I supposed to know?!”

*Seriously…!* Despite my tone, I wasn’t angry at anybody but myself for being so goddamn stupid. I must’ve really run Jack through circles. I glanced over at him in the corner of my eye, feeling even more guilty that I just ditched him with Julian. I could see them talking though, thankfully not throwing fists, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.


“You know Suki only likes you because you’re her type, right? She’ll just use you for sex like all of the other men that drool for her and then she’ll come back to us like she always has. Come back to me.” Jack was more sober this time when he spoke with aggression.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Julian’s smile turned into a smirk, that puppy dog long gone. “She’s been drooling at my feet since she met me and I’ll keep her begging like a dog until my leash around her neck snaps.”

Jack’s jaw dropped when he saw the dramatic twist in Julian’s personality. He grits his teeth in fury but doesn’t dare speak out against him out of fear of what he’d do to the woman he loved. “You motherfucker… just wait, Suki is gonna see your true colors, and your ass will be erased from her life forever!”

“No, she won’t.” Julian’s voice quieted as he took a few steps closer to Jack, the angelic man had a spark of blue fire in his eyes that held obsession. Jack took a step backward. “Don’t you know the marriage vows? She’s not going anywhere until *death do we part*.”