Emma stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a soft robe, her damp hair falling loosely over her shoulders.
"It's chill if I use this, yeah? Saw it in the bathroom," she said, tugging slightly at the robe's belt as she approached Jayden.
He looked up from where he was folding her clothes neatly on the bed and gave a small nod. "Of course."
The pillow that had been beneath her earlier was now on the floor in the corner of the room, noticeably damp. She glanced at it, a quiet smile tugging at her lips, then looked around the room with fresh eyes.
"What's this for?" she asked, walking toward a setup on the side of the room—a clean, modern desk arrangement she hadn't noticed before.
Jayden followed her gaze. "That's my workspace."
On the desk were a few sleek devices: a foldable-screen computer that curved slightly for multitasking, a laptop with a matte black finish, and an iPad neatly docked in a vertical stand. The way everything was arranged—symmetrical and minimalistic—gave the whole area a subtle, aesthetic charm.
She nodded in quiet appreciation. "Looks serious."
Jayden smiled, walking over. "It is, sometimes. The market's closed for the weekend, though—otherwise you'd really see the space come alive."
His tone hinted at something more, like there was another layer to the room she hadn't yet seen.
Emma moved closer to the workspace, her eyes drifting toward the wall where several sticky notes were scattered in an organized mess.
The first one she read said:
"Eat. Gym. Practice. Rinse. Repeat."
She smiled faintly at that. But as she skimmed through the others, her eyes caught more personal ones:
"Call Jenny."
"Ask Jenny for the Apple Music password."
"Send money to Mom."
There were plenty of others that seemed random or irrelevant, but one note in particular stopped her—just seeing Jenny's name again made her pause.
Jayden noticed the shift in her expression. "Hey, what are you looking at?" he asked playfully, spinning her around and sliding his arms around her waist.
"Jenny's your ex, right?" she asked, remembering him mentioning it during their date earlier.
He let out a breathy laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ahhh... yeah. I forgot to take that one down." His grin was sheepish, but genuine.
"It's nothing serious," he added quickly, reaching up to gently pinch her chin.
"Then take the notes down," Emma said, half-teasing, half-serious.
"You can do it," he replied with a smirk. "I swear, I don't even know why they're still there."
"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Really," he said with a chuckle. "Be my guest."
Without wasting another second, Emma started peeling the notes off the wall one by one. She crumpled them at the thought of Jenny's name, almost like she didn't want to admit she cared that much, but she clearly did.
Jayden watched her for a moment, then spoke quietly. "There was a time, maybe three months ago. She was going through some stuff. Bad stuff. I called her every day to check on her, make sure she was still breathing."
He paused, then added, "After she got better, we just... drifted. Went back to ghosting each other. That was it."
Emma looked at him, her expression softening. "It's cool," she said with a quiet nod.
But deep down, she was glad he explained himself. That honesty meant more than he probably realized.
Emma tossed the crumpled notes into the small bin by his desk, brushing her hands together like she was done with a job well executed. Jayden leaned against the edge of the desk, watching her with a half-smile.
"You're kind of intense, you know that?" he said.
She shot him a look. "Is that your way of saying 'thank you for cleaning your wall?'"
He laughed. "Maybe."
There was a pause—not awkward, just full of something unspoken. Emma took a seat in his desk chair, spinning it slightly back and forth.
"Did you love her?" she asked, not meeting his eyes at first.
Jayden didn't answer right away. "Yeah," he said eventually
"I really did" He said once again looking up the ceiling. He stood there, trying as hard as possible not to recall the nice moments they had together but he couldn't stop it
Jayden continued, his voice quieter now. "You know... I watched from the shadows for years. She dated other guys... guys who always seemed to want something from her."
He nudged his head subtly, and Emma immediately understood what something meant.
"She'd come out of each heartbreak worse than the last. Told me once it was because she kept saying no. Because she refused to give them that."
Emma's expression softened, listening closely.
"It took everything in me to ask her out after one of those breakups," he said. "I thought she'd never say yes... but she did."
He let out a slow breath. "I really loved her. She meant the world to me. And honestly... I don't think I've fully healed. The scars are still fresh. Real fresh."
There was a beat before he continued, more to himself now than to her.
"She was my best friend. Same class since kindergarten. Lived on the same street. It always felt like we were... meant to be, you know? But she was just too blind or maybe too stubborn to see it."
Emma remained quiet, giving him the space to go on.
"When we left for school together, she gave me the impression she was still a virgin. I mean... I was too." He let out a dry laugh, almost embarrassed.
"We finally did it, and looking back, I swear she lied. I mean, I released five times," he said with a crooked smile, half-laughing as he shook his head at the memory. "She made love to me like... a monster. It felt amazing. So I didn't say anything that day."
He paused for a moment, then added, "But a few days later, we got into this argument. And I kept thinking... you're my best friend, why didn't you just tell me when you had your first time?"
Emma leaned slightly forward, her face open but calm.
"We patched things up," Jayden said, shrugging. "Over sex, of course. She took control, like always."
His expression darkened slightly. "Then I found out she was cheating. Not just once. Repeatedly. And I mean, really cheating... like it was a lifestyle."
His voice dropped to a tired sigh. "I blocked her on everything. Disappeared from her world. Then months later, she calls me from another number, crying, apologizing, saying she wants another chance."
Emma winced slightly but stayed quiet.
"I gave in," he admitted. "Got back together. Thought maybe it'd be different. But she kept cheating. Over and over. Like she was cursed or something."
He exhaled slowly and looked down at his hands. "I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to choose myself. My sanity. My peace."
Jayden looked back up at her now, more composed. "So I poured everything into football. Into getting stronger. Into fixing the parts of me she broke."