Page 62 of Tears of Glass

“No. I wasn’t engaged to her, it was a ploy, a ruse, so I could get you everything you deserved. And so, now you are accusing me of cheating on you?”

His demand causes my eyes to fly wide open.

“It’s not cheating if two people aren’t actually together.” My heart races in my chest.

He tilts his head to the side. “It’s cheating if two people are in love. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. It’s just when I was in Brighton, it’s all I could think about. You with her. I hated you so much.”

“I can get that.” He nods. “I should have made Dan tell you I was there. It was stupid to go all the way there and then leave at the first hurdle. I should have fought harder.” He pauses. “You know, he really doesn’t like me. And you? While you were back there?”

Elijah may not have known me very long, but he knows me well. After all, he’s seen me when I’m angry and desperate to disconnect.

“No.”

I want to tell him about Dan. About that foolish night when I hurt and cried and wanted to forget.

“Dan doesn’t like many people. Don’t sweat it. So, what happens now? Like today? Is this it now, are we together? What about your mother and grandmother? This is going to go badly, isn’t it?” I ask.

He raises an eyebrow. “Do you have a passport?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Good. I’ll drop you home and you can pack. We are going away.”

“What? We can’t. There is too much going on.”

“It’s the weekend, Faith.”

“What about Tabitha?”

“She will be fine.” He reopens the door that leads back to his garden.

“This is crazy.”

He grins, and it makes my heart swell to the point of bursting.

“Seriously, Elijah, this is important. What will your mother say?”

He turns and grabs me, pulling me against his body. “Honestly, Faith. I just don’t give a fuck.”

And with that all my worries about what happens today, tomorrow, next week... next year... they all fade away and I slide myself into his arms, the only place I want to be.

A couple of hours later, I walk up the stairs to my flat. Each tread on the stairs and I’m asking myself what I’m doing.

What am I doing?

He broke me. Not just a little bit. He smashed me: made me love, and then destroyed it like a mirror falling from up high.

But then there’s him, and the way he feels; the way with him every touch, every single shred of a moment, seems right.

I’m a woman torn. I want to believe that Elijah and I will walk that rainbow. I just don’t know if I’m the kind of woman who gets rainbows and unicorns.

The TV is blaring loud as I walk through the front door and my eyes fall on Dan sprawled on the couch, beer in hand. “Hey.” I step up and take the beer and he turns his bleary face in my direction. It’s slightly worrying he hadn’t heard me until I was looming over him.

“You’re back.” He barks, a gruff rumble scrunching out of his throat.

“Yep. You okay? Where’s Abi and Adam?” I look about, but it’s not hard to tell they aren’t there, I can see into every room from my spot in the lounge.