Chapter 775 - Wedding day (J&J) (4) (1/2)
Up in JoAnna's apartment…
Ellie could not hide her surprise. ”Aiden is a player?”
”He was… before he met Sarah. He changed because of her.”
Ellie nodded in understanding. He changed, but…”How did Sarah accept him?”
”At that time, she didn't know about his past. And even now, he is doing his best to keep that past hidden from her.”, JoAnna explained without going into details.
”Why?” Ellie does not understand. Aren't good relationships built on trust and honesty? If he is keeping secrets from her, how can they have a good relationship? And why is JoAnna supporting that?
”Because it does not matter.” JoAnna saw disbelief in Ellie's expression. She needs to explain…”The only girl in his eyes is Sarah, and he knows that if she finds out about his past, that will not change how he feels about her or who he is now, but she will be hurt… You saw them together. They are a match made in heaven.”
Ellie agreed. ”Yes. I called them relationship goals.”
JoAnna was happy how Ellie accepted that Aiden went through transformation for Sarah… now she needs to draw a parallel between Aiden and Sarah, and Jasper and Ellie.
”And you see… if Sarah knew that he was a player when they met, she would keep her guard up… just how you are doing now with Jasper. And they would not even start dating. She would miss all this that she has with him now. When I look at two of them, the only word that comes to my mind is: soulmates. Do you think that what Aiden did before he even knew that Sarah exists has the right to jeopardize what they have now?”
Ellie realized where JoAnna is going with this. But her situation is not the same. Aiden treats Sarah like she is the most precious girl in the world… did he do that from the beginning?
”Did he… hang out with other girls in front of her?”, Ellie reluctantly asked.
JoAnna took few seconds to organize her memories of what Sarah told her. ”I remember her saying that he had an entourage all the time. And then she told him how she does not like crowds… and he dismissed them. Also, as their feelings grew and relationship progressed, they shared their likes and dislikes with each other, and adjusted gradually.”
JoAnna saw that Ellie is wavering and decided to give one more extra push.
”Ellie, if you like Jasper, give him a chance. Not because of him, but because of you. Tell him what is bothering you and see if he is willing to change for you. Men can be thick sometimes, and you need to spell it out for them. They assume that if you don't voice your complaint, that you are OK with that. I know that you are afraid of getting hurt, but you are hurting already.”
Ellie exhaled and shook her head. ”I already told him to stay away.”
JoAnna took Ellie's hands in hers. ”Treat that as another test. If he can stay away from you, he was not sincere when he said that he likes you.”
…
In one of the largest suites of the resort, where guys are having their fittings…
”I told you to snap out of it… How come you are still in a bad mood?”, Jeff asked Jasper.
”It's because of this morning…” Bradley ignored Jasper's piercing gaze, but he stopped talking.
”What happened this morning?”, Jeff looked at Bradley, and his glare was getting more dangerous by the second.
Bradley can ignore Jasper, but he is not able to ignore Jeff. Jeff's icy mode is much more intense and… scarier.
Within few seconds Bradley's resistance broke and he started talking: ”We all crashed in his room for the night after coming from the club. In the morning, Millie and Sharon were on their way out, but then they called Jasper to thank him or something like that… Ellie saw three of them in the hallway. It seems that Ellie assumed that he spent the night with two of them, alone.” Bradley was giving a suggestive look.
”How do you know about that?”, Jasper growled at Bradley.