My phone pinged with a text and I clicked to open it.
Jay Stevenson has added you, read the notification on Snapchat.
I didn’t know Jay, but curious, I accepted his friend request.
And as I swiped through his profile, I was glad I did.
Dark and handsome, with sexy stubble, Jay was easy on the eye.
I know you don’t know me, but you look lovely, he typed.
I felt my cheeks flush red as my thumb hovered over my phone screen.
It was very forward of Jay… but I liked it.
You’re not so bad yourself! I typed back, flirtatiously.
It broke the ice and after that, we stayed up all night talking.
Jay told me that he lived with his parents on the other side of the city, and when he asked if we could meet in person, I didn’t hesitate.
‘Sure, sounds good,’ I replied.
After talking for hours, I already felt comfortable with Jay.
And when we met for a drink a few days later, the chemistry between us was electric.
Charming and confident, Jay had the gift of the gab.
But I could tell there was a kind, softer side beneath his ‘cheeky chappie’ exterior.
It wasn’t long before we became a couple and soon, we were spending virtually every day together.
Three months later, we enjoyed a sun-soaked, romantic break to Gran Canaria.
And after a year together, we started planning on getting our own place.
‘I can’t wait to wake up to you every morning,’ Jay said, nuzzling into my neck.
‘You can’t wait for me to do your laundry, more like,’ I joked and he laughed.
Truth was, I’d never been happier.
And a few nights later, as we snuggled up on the sofa, Jay and I stuck a film on the TV.
The opening titles were just rolling, as Jay’s phone pinged with a text.
Glancing across at his screen, I noticed the name ‘Claire’ flash up.
I didn’t recognise it, and it certainly wasn’t anyone I knew.
‘Who’s that?’ I asked Jay, as he hurriedly snatched his mobile.
‘Oh, no one, she’s just a friend,’ he replied, brushing it off.
I didn’t push it, as I chatted to my friends over text all the time.
It’s just that Jay had never mentioned a new friend called Claire before, and I thought I’d seen ‘I can’t wait to see you’ in her message.
I’d only got a momentary glance at his phone though and tried to tell myself I was being silly and put it behind me.
But I hadn’t been wholly convinced by Jay’s response, and it nagged at me.

So a few nights later, as Jay slept soundly next to me, I decided to take my chance to investigate…
Picking up his phone from the bedside table, I quietly clicked it on and huddled over the dim light.
To my relief, I couldn’t find any incriminating texts from Claire.
I was about to drop it and scold myself for not trusting my fella, when I spotted a message thread between Jay and his best mate.
I scrolled through the usual banter about football and boozing but just then, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Jay was bragging to his pal about having sex with a 37-year-old woman.
I felt sick. She was almost twice his age.
Desperate not to wake Jay, I clutched my hand to my mouth in horror as I stifled a gasp.
‘It was scary, she’s not even that fit’, Jay typed cruelly.
But it was when his mate asked if he felt bad for cheating on me, that the most bitter blow hit.
Tears pricked my eyes as I read Jay’s response.
‘No, I love seeing the MILF more’, he’d typed.
Staring up at the ceiling, my mind raced.
Jay and I had been together for nearly a year, but these messages went back months.
Had he been cheating all this time?
It was almost too much to bear.
Jay and I were planning to get our own place, while he’d been romping with a floozy who was old enough to be his mum!
Putting Jay’s phone back on the side, I barely slept a wink that night.
I’d just started a new job, and I didn’t want to miss a shift.
So the next morning, I jumped in the shower, got myself ready for work and acted like everything was fine.
Once there though, I punched out a text to Jay.
‘We need to talk as soon as I get home’, I wrote.
‘What is it now?’ he replied.
I refused to get into a war of words over text, but as soon as I got back from work, I went to Jay’s place and had it out with him.
‘I’ve read the messages, I know all about Claire,’ I fumed. ‘What are you playing at?’
Jay’s face went as white as a sheet, and his voice cracked with emotion as he stumbled over his words.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I cheated, but I’m sorry. Forgive me.’
He was clearly upset — but so was I.
And I wanted answers…
‘Tell me everything,’ I demanded.

I listened in silent shock, as Jay explained he’d met Claire on a night out in the pub with his workmates.
After chatting with her, he’d gone back to her house for sex.
Joining up the dots in my head, I realised that I’d stayed at Jay’s house that night, sleeping in his bed as I waited for him to come home.
When he’d rolled in the next day, he told me he’d slept on his mate’s floor.
Rat!
When Jay confessed that he had gone on to have a six-month affair with the filthy MILF – as he and his pals called her – I was horrified.
‘How could you?’ I gasped, tears welling in my eyes now.
I couldn’t stand the sight of Jay and wanted to be anywhere but there in that moment.
But it was late, and I had no way of getting home.
‘Please, just stay,’ Jay begged — and in the end, I gave in.
‘I don’t want to be here,’ I said, firmly. 
‘I don’t know if I can move past this, Jay. I’m leaving first thing in the morning.’
But after I’d drifted off to sleep, Jay woke me in the middle of the night, crying.
I’d never seen him in tears before and seeing his new, vulnerable side made me soften.
He seemed genuinely devastated at the thought of losing me.
And although I was heartbroken, I began to believe that we could get through this.
‘I’m obviously going to have trust issues, and if we’re going to continue in this relationship, then we are going to have to set some new rules,’ I said.
‘Anything,’ Jay sniffed. ‘Just let me make it up to you.’
It hasn’t been easy to rebuild the trust between us since then, but Jay has worked really hard at it.
He’s definitely worth it.
Now we have a beautiful six-month-old daughter together.
I love our little family, and Jay knows how close he came to losing it all.
I’ve forgiven him, but I will never forget his fling with that mystery MILF.
It was the mother of all betrayals.

Alanah Kemp, 20, Glasgow
As told to Jack Falber.