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He hugs her, and his hand lingers on her waist too long. I want to fucking kill him.
But I don’t. I bite back.
Natalie turns and walks in my direction. When she finally spots me, her steps falter for a second.
“Mason,” she says. She looks guilty. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you at the office, but you just left,” I say. “So, I thought I’d catch you wherever you were going. I wanted to give you these flowers.”
“Oh!” she says and looks at my empty hands and then at my face. Her smile fades, her brow knitting into a frown when I’m not smiling at her. I’m so fucking angry it takes everything for me not to lose mishit. “Is everything okay?”
“Who was that?” I ask.
“It’s my late husband’s brother,” she says.
“What were you meeting him for?”
Her frown deepens. “What does it matter?”
“You could have told me you’re seeing him today.”
“Why?” she asks. “I’m not obliged to report to you.”
She’s right, of course. She doesn’t have to share anything with me. But this is all wrong. She’s not supposed to be out here, laughing and talking with some other guy, letting him touch her.
But why wouldn’t she tell me what she’s seeing him for? What does that mean?
“Just tell me why you were meeting,” I say. I know I sound like the psycho, the stalker, demanding to know where she’s going. But Nicole’s affair is front and center and I can’t shake the fear that it’s happening all over again. Natalie is everything to me. I can’t lose her.
Not now.
And not like this—she can’t be that person when I saw her as someone who would never hurt me.
“I don’t have to tell you anything, Mason,” she says, and her voice is hard. “I’m allowed to be in the company of other men platonically. If you’re going to get like this because we’re together, then we shouldn’t be doing this.”
She walks past me.
“Wait, Natalie,” I say, and she stops, turning to face me.
“What is it, Mason? What do you really want from me? Because I’m not here to be someone’s possession. I know you have a lot going on, but that doesn’t mean you get to treat me like this.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do. I was just asking.”
“No, you were demanding. And it’s inappropriate. I’m going to get in my car and go back to work, and I’m going to pretend this didn’t happen.”
“Can I see you this weekend?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I have Kylie and I’m not going to get a babysitter so soon again.”
I nod. It’s only right that she spends the weekend with her daughter. But I can’t help but wonder if Sam will be there, too. What if he is? Kylie must know him. He’s welcome at their home, I’m sure. And I feel jealous. I try to push the thoughts out of my mind—it’s too soon. I told her she could have all the time in the world.
But that was before I realized she had someone else in her life, too.
“Can I call you?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah.”
“I just want to talk for a while.”
