Page 8 of My Never
“Mark…don’t–” I start, but he’s already turning back to Eric.
“Excuse me?” Mark strolls up to Eric, looking intimidating as fuck yet keeping the cool of a saint. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that look. Eric doesn’t know quite what to do as his eyes dart back and forth.Coward.
“Is she as boring in bed for you as she was for me?”
“You see, I heard you, but I was hoping you weren’t stupid enough to repeat it. Fuck, aren’t you the gentleman? Well, let me enlighten you a little. I should really thank you, because you dropped the ball on one hell of a little spitfire. Maybe if you’d let her spread her wings a little instead of having to always be in control, you would’ve gotten a taste of what I will never let go of and what you will never taste again.”
My jaw is quite possibly on the floor. Mark turns back to me and winks before grabbing my hand and taking us through the checkout. When I start to fish out my wallet, he mumbles anUh Uhand pays for all our things. He grabs the bags and asks for my keys. I hand them to him, and he reaches for my hand again. His big palm holds mine so carefully, as if he’s afraid I’ll shatter.
“Come on,” he whispers.
“But–” I begin.
“No buts. He's watching. Don’t make me kiss you to prove a point, because I’m in the mood to prove a point to that asshole.”
“Nope. I’m good.”
“That’s what I thought.”
We walk in silence to my SUV, and he opens my door for me. After dropping our bags in the back, he pulls out his phone, dialing as he climbs in the driver’s seat.
“Hey, Colin, can you pick me up at Ava’s in thirty?”
I hear a mumbled question on the other end of the call. Colin was probably not expecting that one. That would make two of us.
“Long story short, I was proving a point to her ex.”
Another mumbled answer.
“Thanks, man. See you in a bit.” Mark ends the call and sets his phone in the cupholder.
“What the fuck did you ever see in that asshole, and how the hell did you almost marry him?”
3
Mark
Ilook over at the horrified expression on Ava’s face as she contemplates how to best answer my question.
“You didn’t have to step in.”
“Oh, yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“I wasn’t going to let him rattle you like that. I was just coming back up the other side of the aisle when I overheard him say that insane shit about how you’re supposed to be used to a period by now. Did the fucker not have any sisters?”
I shake my head no at him, and he huffs. He still looks pissed as hell.
“That explains a lot. I think every guy should have a sister or two. It teaches you a plethora of things you’d never imagine. I could always tell in school which guys did and didn’t have sisters.”
“I don’t know what I saw in him. I was younger and more naive. I know I deserve more now.”
“I’m glad you realize that. Never forget it. Even when I rattle you, and I do enjoy rattling you, I wouldn’t ever take it that far. You may get under my skin, and we may not be very fond of each other, but I’m not cruel.”
We both sit in silence, looking out the windshield in order to avoid the awkwardness the confined space provides. I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Calling me a prude is cruel. He used to call me that,” she whispers as I turn to look out the window at the houses we pass. Seconds tick by. The air feels thick with tension.
