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“You sure you can handle it?”
“Yes.” And if I couldn’t, he would never know anyway.
“Technically, he was in a relationship when he was writing you those letters.”
“True, but that’s different. We were already talking for a couple of years when he met his ex. They were just letters too. We had no physical contact, and I wasn’t the reason he left that douchebag.”
“See? I was spouting nonsense. Forget about it.”
“No, seriously, Jarrod. We got to know each other in those letters to a certain extent. None of his fantasies were directed at me either. Just general talk. Besides, I think Scottie used those letters as an outlet for everything going wrong in his relationship. His ex used to abuse him.”
“Fuck. I didn’t know that.”
“Yes, so it’s not the same thing. It’s not.” And I refused to believe our relationship, with so much love and care, would reduce to Scottie sleeping with another man. Despite the instant attraction when we first met face-to-face, Scottie wasn’t the kind of person to sleep with two men at the same time.
He wasn’t.
He couldn’t be.
“So what are you going to do?” Jarrod asked.
“Nothing. I’m sure everything’s fine. Everybody has an off day, right?”
35
SCOTTIE
The flickering television screen barely registered. Figures were moving, but I had no clue what the movie was about. My mind kept drifting, and every other minute, I checked the clock. At any moment, Griff would return home, and I could make up for my earlier gaffe. I hadn’t meant for him to see the bruises or flinch when his hands formed into fists, but how to make him believe that?
Although he’d said he believed me, I couldn’t shake the feeling Griff still had doubts about me sleeping with someone else. Stupid. I’d been so focused on him not knowing the truth to avoid him confronting David that I hadn’t even considered the possibility of what could go wrong if he saw the marks on my body.
It was already close to midnight. Why wasn’t Griff home yet? I checked my phone, but no missed calls had come in from him.
Griff, you believe I’d never cheat on you, don’t you?
I dialed Jay’s number and muted the television.
“Hey,” Jay groaned, the scratchiness of his voice giving away he’d been sleeping.
Crackers. Why was I so scatterbrained? Since David’s assault, I felt like I was operating on a different frequency—disoriented and thrown off balance. Filing for a restraining order at the courthouse yesterday should have made me feel easier, but it didn't. David would have received the notice of the temporary restraining order by now, but I would see him at the court hearing, and that left my stomach in knots. How would I keep it from Griff?
“Scott, is something wrong?” Jay asked.
“Sorry.” I shrugged off the chill running down my spine. “Forgot how late it was. I’ll call you back tomorrow.”
“I’m already on the line. What’s up? Did that asshole make contact with you?”
“No.”
“Okay. So what’s going on ?”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Usually, I wouldn’t hesitate to talk to him about my relationship, but knowing how he felt about his father made it difficult to be plain with him. Now I understood what he’d meant by me being with Griff, which automatically brought back Griff in his life.
“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”
“Is it to do with Dad? You can tell me. Otherwise, I won’t be able to sleep. Do you want me to lose sleep, Scott?”
I sighed. He knew me all too well and that guilt-tripping me would work. No wonder I’d ended up being foolish and meeting with David out of guilt.
