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“Mark,” I whispered in horror.
“So, you were texting Derek.”
“I told you that.” I grabbed my phone back with a shaky hand. “I told you he texted me.”
“You said it was nothing, but he was trying to get you to meet him and Ash.”
“He’d invited me when he said he was driving into town, and I declined. I said no to be with you,” I said, trying to keep the tears from coming to my eyes.
“Don’t cry. You’re embarrassing yourself,” he said callously.
Meanwhile, his friends stood around, acting as if none of it was happening at all.
I swiped at my eyes with the back of my hands. “I don’t know why you’re doing this.”
“I saw the way you looked at him,” he said low as he got into my face aggressively. “Were you thinking of going with him? Are you that desperate again, Amelia?”
“No,” I hissed.
He grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. His fingers dug in hard enough to bruise. “You’re an idiot for ever thinking he’d care about you. I’m the only person who will ever care about you. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“You should have told me about his birthday. You should have told me he’d be out. This is your fault.”
I swallowed down all the words I wanted to say to him. How all those demands meant a new argument with him. This same conversation on repeat. Even though he had nothing to worry about. Even though I was never going back to Ash. None of it made sense. And yet I had to manage Mark’s emotions and make him comfortable at every turn. Without him ever thinking about how that interaction hurt me.
“I know,” I finally said.
“We should just go,” Mark snapped.
“Go?”
“Yeah. This is humiliating. You’re crying in the bar, texting your ex. I can’t be seen with you here.”
He dropped a hundred down with his friends and made some excuse I never heard. Then he had me by my upper arm and hauled me out of the bar. I didn’t even object. I didn’t know what to do or say. I hadn’t even done anything.
But still, I went. I got back to Mark’s house and changed into sleeping clothes.
“I’m taking a shower. Don’t wait up,” Mark snapped.
The bathroom door slammed shut, and I winced.
I crawled into his bed. There didn’t seem to be a way to avoid this. He was mad, no matter what I did. I pulled my phone up and scrolled through my list of blocked numbers. It was a bunch of unknown numbers and then Ash Talmadge.
I glanced at the bathroom and then clicked Unblock.
Happy birthday.
Almost immediately, a text came in from him.
Thanks, Mia. It was good seeing you tonight. I miss you.
I held the phone to my chest and closed my eyes around those words. Then, I let it all go. I couldn’t talk to him anymore. Not if I wanted things to work with Mark.
So, I deleted the messages, changed the passcode on my phone, and tried to sleep. But sleep evaded me as my brain went around and around on how to make sure this didn’t happen again.
24
Savannah
January 27, 2022
I kicked open the door to my house and dropped the samples onto a chair. I had so much work to do to get ready for the next launch. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Mark had called earlier and said he’d be at work late and not to wait up. Which I’d thought was a good thing at the time. I’d get so much work done. But now …
My room was on the second floor of my townhouse. I stripped out of my work attire and into my Taylor Swift cardigan and sweats. Mark sort of thought it was ugly, but I wore it with pride around his house all the time.
I came downstairs and started making a pot of coffee, hoping it would give me the energy I needed to do some more work tonight, when my cell phone dinged.
Are you home?
My hand shook as I stared at the name. Ash. What the …
Ash hadn’t texted me since his birthday when I stopped answering his messages. I’d opened the floodgates with my birthday text, but I’d shut it all down. I was pretty sure Mark had tried to get in my phone after that, but he didn’t know the new passcode. I never brought it up again.
I had nothing to hide, but it was the lack of privacy. And while he’d left my phone alone, everything else had gotten gradually worse. That night had been the tipping point for him grinding me under his heel. Every day since New Year’s Eve, I’d been considering walking away. Then, I’d talk to someone about it, try to explain his behavior, and everyone thought I was crazy. Mark wasn’t actually like that. Mark was lovely. I should be happy to have someone like that. Everyone wanted someone like him. Well … maybe they could have him.
