“Got you.” His voice is quiet and gleeful. He’s standing less than ten feet from me, and it would be pointless to try and outrun him.
“You thought I wouldn’t get you? Have you forgotten who I am?” he asks, taking a step forward, and the sunshine reflects off his perfectly styled blond hair.
“No, no,” I say, shaking my head, hoping that if I keep my gaze pinned to the floor, he won’t be as hard on me as he normally is.
That’s a dumb hope, though, there’s no rationalizing with someone like him.
“You’re so weird,” Matt says, stopping in front of me. I can smell the eucalyptus from his cologne, the scent overpowering and making my eyes water. Or maybe it’s the feelings associated with that smell.
“You’re not going to say anything?” he snarls, bending down until his nose is right against mine. His blue eyes are glaring at me, the irises filled with loathing and malice.
I stay silent. I’ve learned that if I speak, it makes everything worse.
“So fucking weird. You always have been. I used to pity you, but then I realized that I was starting to actuallylikeyou.” I sniffle, pathetically trying to hold back the tears that are resting along my lash line.
He raises his hand, and I flinch back, bumping against the hard cinderblock wall.
That sets him off.
The first punch to my cheekbone feels like a bomb going off on the side of my head, the force behind it enough to knock me to the floor.
My side aches, and nausea builds in my stomach with the pain flowing through my veins.
His fists meet the soft skin of my abdomen, caving it in with every hard hit.
My eyes slowly slip shut, the bright light dimming into a shadow, until I fade into blackness.
NOW
38
ADAM
EIGHT YEARS LATER
The overhead door alarm rings, the light tinkling, filling the dimly lit space pleasantly. If my business partner, and sometimes friend, Trent, had it his way, we would have a fire alarm in its place. That’s mostly because he likes to pretend he’s hard of hearing. Most of the time, I think it’s him trying to see how far he can push my buttons.
In walks the man himself, with his sleeve of tattoos and dark hair tucked behind his ears. He looks like the epitome of a “bad boy.” Instead, he’s more of a marshmallow. Soft on the outside and on the inside.
If someone had told me three years ago I would be hiring someone to help with my fencing business, and he would turn into my closest friend, I wouldn’t have believed them. But that’s what Trent is, no matter how much he tries to piss me off.
Too bad I’m not attracted to Trent, because he would have been prime boyfriend material. Even though he cheated on his ex. That’s his story to tell, though, not mine. How can I judge when I’ve done the same shit in the past? But sadly, even after all these years, there’s still only one person who makes my blood run hot and my mind feel at ease.
“Do you want to walk to the café for lunch?”
“It’s 8:30 in the morning,” I say, staring at the QuickBooks report pulled up on my computer. I’m currently working up a huge estimate for the renovation of a house a couple blocks from downtown. It doesn’t fall under my typical umbrella of jobs, but it’s one that I was specially requested for by a friend of Cheryl and Daniel’s, and I’m not going to let them down.
I look at the clock and then swing my head around to meet his gaze as he sits at his computer across the office from me. We really need to put a wall between us. Mostly for when he’s trying to get under my skin.
“It’s 8:30 in the morning,” I reiterate. “And it’s also going to be hotter than Satan’s asshole outside. Absolutely not.”
“You used to love walking there.” I’m glad he’s not acknowledging the fact that it should be criminal to be talking about lunch before my breakfast has even settled. But does he care? Absolutely not. The asshole.
“And then global warming became more prevalent,” I deadpan.
“Oh fuck off, grumps.” He snorts and begins typing on his computer, doing whatever it is that he does all day.
Okay, that’s not fair. I know what he does all day, because he considers me his “boss” instead of his business partner, and he writes it every day on the whiteboard that we share to keep each other, and our employees, in the loop for important details.
