Page 82 of My Never
“How long have you been here?” I ask.
“Oh, just an hour. I knew you’d be leaving at some point soon,” he says nonchalantly, looking down at his hands as if there’s something on the right one.
I shudder a little with the thought that he’s just been out here sitting, waiting for me.
“What do you want, Eric? I told you that I wasn’t interested in re-evaluating our past.” He looks back up at me.
“Yeah, well,” he bites his bottom lip as he looks at the road then back at me. “I want to talk about that in person. Let’s go get a cup of coffee.”
“No, I have somewhere to be.”
His eyes flare with anger. Eric has never taken well to being told no.
“Oh really? Where? Or were you leaving to go fuck your boy toy?”
There he is…
“Okay, first off, my business is none of your concern any more, and Mark is not my boy toy. He’s my boyfriend. We’re serious. You aren’t going to change that after being nonexistent in my sphere for years. You had your chance with me, and you burnt that bridge when you brought Blaire into my bed. It’s over. I will never reconsider.”
“I’ve had years to reconsider it. I know I fucked up, but we havehistory,Aves. You can’t just let it all go. I can’t.”
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong. I can. Idid, years ago. That ship’s sailed. You will never have access to my heart again. You are only doing this now because you’re miserable with the choices you’ve made, and you can’t stand it that I am finally happy. Without you. You can’t stand to see another man making me happy when you didn’t even truly try. Now, I’m leaving. Have a good weekend.” I step toward my car, feeling better about giving him a piece of my mind, but he steps between me and the door. I frown.
“You really think he will always make you happy? You’re delusional.”
“No, that would be delusional. I’m sure we’ll have our ups and downs, but I know he’s the type of man that will fight to keep me, not the type to throw me away.”
Eric’s face turns red as he curses underneath his breath and looks back toward the street. I move to grab the handle of my door, and he grabs my wrist hard to get my attention.Oh, hell no.
“Get your hand off of me.”
“This isn’t over between us.” He squeezes harder, and I wince. That hurts. He notices and lets go, but he doesn’t apologize.
“Yes, it is. Leave me alone, Eric.” I pull open my door, not caring that it hits him in the shoulder as I climb in.
“I’m not going to do that,” I hear him whisper under his breath as I’m shutting the door. I lock it for good measure and start the engine. He just stands there glaring at me. A chill runs down my spine as I pull out and drive away.
???
When I walk in the door to my place, I take a deep breath, locking it behind me. I decide it’s a great time for a nice, hot bath. If Mark shows up while I’m in here, he knows where the spare is.
I kick off my shoes and unzip my skirt while I walk to the kitchen, pulling my tucked-in yellow chiffon shirt out from the skirt. That’s better. My mail is already on the counter. I guess Mark grabbed it this morning on his way out the door. That was thoughtful. I grab a bottle of water and meander down the hallway toward my room. I close the cracked guest room door before going into mine. At my dresser, I take out my earrings and pull off my necklace. Opening my underwear drawer to grab some panties for after my bath, I freeze. My drawer is a mess. I’ve always had a thing about keeping it somewhat neat. Whilethat drives me crazy, I’m more flabbergasted that all of my toys are lined up on top of the messed up pile of panties, minus my sparkle plug. Mark said he didn’t do that though.
I take a deep breath and refuse to let the crazy idea of someone in my things take shape. Maybe the drawer got left open and Mark was in a rush and accidentally knocked it out and he only had time to throw everything back in. Yup, that sounds more reasonable. I walk to my bathroom and turn on the hot water to begin filling the tub. Steam begins to fill the room. Stripping down, I pull my hair up off my neck, attaching it with my favorite claw clip so it doesn’t get wet. The mirror fogs, and I smile when a smiley face appears drawn on the mirror. How cute.
I walk over to the tub, adding a smidge of my favorite bath oil to the running water before sinking down into it blissfully. Laying my head back, I sigh, letting the long day fade away. I hear a door open and close, then open and close again a few seconds later. I guess Mark forgot something in his truck. He must’ve taken off early too. A few minutes later, I hear the door open again.
“Babe? What’re you doing home early?” I hear him call out as he walks down the hallway. He walks into the bathroom and smiles as he notices me naked in the tub.
“Oh, I got things taken care of early and decided that I didn’t want to stick around for another hour. It’s a holiday weekend anyway.”
He shuts the door to keep the steam in and comes to sit on the side of the tub to talk to me.
“How was your day?” I ask, contemplating how I’m going to bring up Eric.
“I couldn’t wait to get out of there because I was thinking about pink gems.”
I chuckle.
