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After closing the door, he walks me over to the bed and gestures for me to sit down. It’s a massive king-sized bed with a charcoal-colored comforter. His bedroom has the same gorgeous view of the lake as his living room.
“Adam?” he asks, sitting down beside me but leaving a couple feet between us.
“Yeah, but I’m okay.”
“You say that all the time, Mia. ‘I’m okay. I’ve got it. I’ll be fine.’”
I shrug, my throat tightening with emotion. “What choice do I have?”
He hesitates. “Are you upset because it’s Christmas and you guys are having problems?”
“No.” I scoff. “I’m upset because he’s a controlling asshole who’s making it impossible for me to get a divorce.”
“It’s not impossible.”
I shake my head and look at the floor. “I can’t afford my grandpa’s care. He knows that.”
“You can get enough in the divorce to cover it, though.”
“He’s told me he’ll fight me with everything he’s got, Anton,” I say fiercely. “And I can’t afford an attorney. Definitely not one like he can. He took away my access to the bank accounts. What am I supposed to do?”
He reaches a hand over, like he wants to touch my knee, but then pulls it back. “Let me help you with the money.”
“No. I’m not going from being beholden to one man to being beholden to another.”
Anton’s note of laughter is unamused. “You think I’d hold it over you like he does? I don’t want the money back, Mia. I just want to help you.”
I’m almost afraid to say the words, but I have to. With Adam, I didn’t say things he might not like. I’m not doing that anymore.
“But you don’t just want to help me.” I turn and face Anton. “You want me to get divorced so I can be with you.”
A flicker of hurt passes over his face. “Not entirely. Would I love a shot with you at some point? Yeah. But right now, I’m just your friend. I have the means to help you. Let me do it.”
“Anton…you don’t know what you’re saying. He’s your teammate. You can’t—”
“I can. And I will, if you’ll let me.”
I scrunch up my face and cry, wishing it were that simple. Anton has already done so much for me. But if I’m able to get a divorce, I don’t want to dive into another relationship immediately, no matter how much I like Anton, which is a lot. And if I took his money, I’d feel like I needed to try.
My phone buzzes with another text. I ignore it.
“Let me see it,” Anton says.
“You don’t want to,” I say numbly.
“Let me see it,” he repeats, putting his hand out.
I sigh heavily, take out the phone, and glance down at the screen.
Adam: I want to choke you ‘til you have no more voice to lie to me you fucking bitch. Where are you?
I pass my phone to Anton.
“Jesus,” he says as he reads the messages. “Mia, why didn’t you tell me?”
The dam breaks then. I put my elbows on my knees and cry into my hands. Anton puts his palm on my back as I cry out my pent-up feelings.
Finally, I sit up and shrug. “I’m ashamed. I know it’s an abusive relationship. And I always thought I was a strong woman.”
“You are.” Anton slides closer to me. “Listen to me—you are strong. This is all on him, not you.”
“But I stayed longer than I should. I’m still not out of it.”
“Because he’s holding you hostage, Mia. It’s not right. You have to let me help you out of this.”
I take a deep breath. “Can we talk about it another time? I feel like we should be out there with everyone else. It’s Christmas.”
Anton nods. “Yeah. But I’m not dropping this. We’re talking about it tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“Also…” He clears his throat, looking nervous. “I want you to know, I got you something for Christmas, but now’s not the right time to give it to you. I just didn’t want you to think I didn’t get you anything.”
The line of concern between his brows makes me smile. “You’ve already done enough.”
He puts his big hand over my much smaller one on my knee. “You’re my friend, Mia. I’ve got a few other friends I’d go to bat for, too. They just don’t happen to be so beautiful I can hardly breathe around them. But you’ll find out there’s more to me—more to us—than attraction. When you get ready to admit you’re not okay, call me and you’ll see what a fierce friend I am.”
I just nod, unable to speak. Adam has been the darkness in my life for a while. The universe gave me an unexpected counterbalance in Anton. He’s the light. The hope. The joy. No gift that comes in a box could compare to that.Chapter SixteenAntonThe coffee shop at the end of my block isn’t very busy the morning after Christmas Day. I’m having a strong cup of black coffee as I wait for Mia, and it’s already hitting me hard. I’m tapping my foot on the floor and shifting around in my seat.
