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He ordered, “Why was she here?”
“I’m not sure you’re in the mood to listen to that at this juncture.”
“I’m not sure you have a choice in that.”
Was he serious?
“I’m not sure you get to tell me what my choices are,” I replied heatedly.
“You get what I do for a living?”
“Yes,” I snapped.
“And you get you’re a server in a funky coffee bar?”
Oh my God!
Now I was whispering. “Tell me you didn’t just say that.”
“I’m angry because I’m worried about you.”
That would be nice, if I wasn’t so pissed.
“And I’m an adult, and I’d like my boyfriend to treat me like that, not a child.”
“So I’m your boyfriend?”
Oh snap.
“I—”
“I am, Rachel,” he confirmed, and I didn’t get to praise hallelujah at that, not only due to my mood but because he kept talking. “Which makes you my woman. You were flat-out wrong in what you said to Dream. People can belong to each other. That’s what relationships are. Making that commitment to look after something you hold that means something to you. And I can’t look after you unless youcommunicate with me.”
I was close to yelling when I returned, “I’m a big girl. I don’t need you to look after me, Cap! I know because I’ve been doing it for a really long time. I also don’t belong to you or anybody, and I neverfucking will.”
His demeanor changed in a way that made my stomach twist and that sinister whisper was back when he said, “Right.”
And then, before I could get another word in, he shouldered past me, walked into the living room, grabbed the strap of a big leather bag that was in my armchair, and he shouldered that too.
Without another word, or even a glance in my direction, he was out the door.
“What just happened?” I stared at the door, my stomach still in a knot and now my lungs felt like they were on fire.
Patches ambled in and said, “Meow.”
That wasn’t an answer to my question.
That was “I want breakfast.”
Meditation music floated down the hall from my bedroom.
“Shit,” I whispered.
Then I got Jenn’s cat his breakfast.
* * *
I poweredthrough the employee entrance of The Surf Club and went right to my locker to store my bag.
