A Game of Seduction

"It's fine. You can look through my phone whenever you want. But please remember to give me a chance to explain things," Jason said to me.

Well, he had used my birthday as his password. His feelings for me could not have been more obvious.

I buried my face in his shoulder.

Samuel and I had been together for so many years, but I had only gotten his phone password after crying and becoming a drama queen. Then, the password for his phone was Gemma's birthday.

Thinking about it now, it was almost funny. I continued making a fuss about it and demanded that he change it to my birthday, but Samuel mocked me for being childish and for insisting on comparing myself to the person he considered his little sister.

After that, he gave me the silent treatment for a month. In the end, I was the one who went to him to apologize. Samuel seemed to have gotten a taste for it after that, and he insisted on doing it again.

He left me completely exhausted.

Maybe both Jason and I had secrets we could not say out loud. But, so what? Being happy mattered most.

I had gone more than six hours without messaging Samuel.

I did not even realize it. Instead, I saw it in the group chat when I opened my alternate account. Samuel was announcing it as if he had won his first round.

[Jason really has some skill. Nina hasn't bothered me in more than six hours.]

Really? So I had gone that long without contacting Samuel.

[Nina has never gone more than four hours without contacting me.] Samuel added another message.

I admitted that it was true. Even when I had already gone to bed, I would send him a message if I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I had once admired him so much that I hoped I could be with him every moment. If my parents had not stopped me, maybe I would have moved into the Sanders' residence and lived with him the day I graduated.

Now, I thanked my parents from the bottom of my heart.

I watched the people in the group chat cheer him on. Some had already started betting on how long it would take before I contacted Samuel.

The group chat started placing bets.

I did a quick count. The pool was already close to 10,000 dollars. I checked Samuel's bet in particular. He bet that I would contact him within ten hours.

Just as I was considering whether to contact him, Jason gently carried me to the dining table. There were four dishes and a bowl of soup on the table. "You were saying you were hungry earlier. You must be even hungrier now."

Jason patiently helped me pick the crab meat out of its shell.

I had to admit, I was not used to being treated this well. No one had ever been so patient with me. Even when I first got together with Samuel, I was the one chasing after him.

I slowly savored the sweet crab, and all those mentions about bets whether it was six hours or ten hours had all just faded away.

After Jason wore me out, I slept deeply until nearly noon the next day.

When I woke up, Samuel had sent me several messages.

Last night was the first time in the five years we had been together that I had not said good night to him. Seeing that he had sent several messages in a row, I knew he must have panicked a little. I casually told him I had caught a cold last night and fell asleep early.

Figuratively speaking, why would I think about some cheap car when I could have a Ferrari?

Finally, he sent another message. [Gemma's birthday party is tonight. Why don't you come along?]

I replied with one word. [Sure.]

-

That evening, I put on a full face of makeup and arrived at the party in Jason's car. Then, Jason opened the car door for me like a gentleman.

The party suddenly went silent.

Samuel was standing beside Gemma. When he saw me get out of Jason's car, he froze.

I lifted the hem of my dress and walked over. Then, I took Samuel's arm with a bright smile.