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Rosalie threw a pillow at me. “You know what I mean!”
“What about you and Drake?”
“What about us?”
“Does he hurt you? Has he hurt you?”
She laughed. “That whale watching tour really did a number on my insides—”
“You know what I mean!”
Rosalie was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking. “Yes and no. I mean, I know he will never physically hurt me so that’s not a concern. But I know he keeps things from me. There is stuff in his past that he won’t share and that hurts. I could walk away and leave and say that hurdle is too high and I won’t fucking jump over it. Or I can do what I’m doing now.”
“Which is?”
Rosalie shrugged, drinking more of the strawberry Prosecco. “Keep trying to jump it, miss, then move on. Eventually I’ll be able to get that information out of him, but I like what we have right now so much that I am willing to deal with this. Not forever. But for now. And I think we will deal with it soon, so I guess I have enough hope for the future to make it work. Do you have that?”
“What? Hope for the future?” I did at one point. I thought we had something.
“Yeah. Where did you see this thing with Trask going?”
I chugged the rest of my Prosecco. “I honestly didn’t have a plan. I just knew I liked being with him. It’s just his parents! They’re tyrants! And Trask’s whole world is woven with a fabric his parents created for him. They’re ingrained in his life. It’s not a hurdle I can walk around. It’s the entire street we walk down.”
“I’m really sorry, Eliza.”
“Why?”
“Because I know how much you liked him. And it feels like you’ve given up.”
I groaned, fighting the tears. “I think I have.”
28
TRASK
It started because I got drunk at a bar with Roman. All ideas in a crowded bar with alcohol pumping through your blood seemed like good ideas.
“Where’s your girl?” I asked Roman.
He pointed to a woman working behind the bar. She was shaking some cocktail and giving a guy a glare.
“What does she see in you?” I asked.
Roman shrugged, drinking his coke. “No clue. But I like to be around for her weekend shifts. Guys get handsy, you know?”
I nodded. “I know. My girl beat the shit out of a guy who tried to hurt her.”
“Ah,” Roman said. “That would be the probation thing?”
“Shit, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“What the hell is going on with you, man?” Roman asked.
I shrugged, downing the shot. “We fought. She thinks my parents are ruining my life.”
Roman snorted. “They are. Look, do what makes you happy. Prove to your girl that you love her more than them. Hell, I’d wager it isn’t even about who you love more, it’s about respect. No girl wants to be with a pussy who won’t follow through with what they want.”
The music blared overhead and my head was pounding, but Roman’s words struck a nerve. “You don’t know what it’s like! They’re breathing down my neck. Sometimes I swear they get excited when I make a mistake because it gives them an excuse to lecture me. My mom is all up in my business, constantly.”
