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“We were.”
At that, she reared up and pushed herself out of bed, breathing heavily. In and out. In and out.
“This can’t be happening,” she muttered to herself. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Tillie—”
“Don’t touch me,” she screeched when I made a move to draw her into my arms. “Don’t ever touch me again!”
I didn’t touch her because she seemed like she was on the verge of a panic attack. She clutched her chest, and pain twisted her features.
“Tillie—”
“So you slept with me knowing you were friends with that bastard, and I was his daughter.”
Her words were like punches to the gut, but I couldn’t deny their veracity. “Yes.”
She huffed out a bitter laugh, her breaths becoming even more rapid. I didn’t hesitate anymore. I drew her against my chest, and she started fighting me. I ignored her flaying arms. She kicked and punched and pushed to be released, but I was like a rock. I could tell she wanted to scream, but she couldn’t pull in enough breath. And then, she finally collapsed into my arms, resigned.
“Breathe,” I coached.
“Let me go, you bastard.”
“I will if you breathe for me. Come on, slowly. Deep breath in and deep breath out.”
I wasn’t sure if it was just to get rid of me, but she obeyed, slowly getting her breathing under control. And when she was steady enough, I kept to my word and backed up, even though it tore me apart inside to do so.
“Leave,” she said blankly and emotionlessly after a few seconds. “Please.”
“I will,” I promised. “But I’ll be back tomorrow. And you will get an appointment with a therapist.”
“Who do you think you are?” she demanded. “You have no right to tell me what to do. You lied to me.”
“I did,” I said. “And I’m sorry. So from now on, I’m going to tell you the truth. And the truth is, I’m not going to stand by and watch you destroy yourself. I just won’t. So get ready because from now on, I’m not going to leave your side. I’m here now.”
NINETEEN
TILLIE
I knew it was too good to be true.
I’d been around long enough to know that, usually, when things start going too well in my life, it was a clear sign that things were about to come crashing down. And, of course, it would happen in a spectacular fashion.
The man who had held me in his arms, who had mindblowing sex with me and fucked me into a stupor, the man who cooked for me and walked my dog when I couldn’t and occasionally gave me little smiles that I could easily mistake for affection…
That man was not who I thought he was.
He was a friend of my father. A friend of the first person who ever showed me just how bitter life could be. The genesis of all my problems.
And not just any type of friend. They must have been very close because the only reason Ezra was in town in the first place was due to the fact that my father had died. He said he wanted to meet Dad’s family and “take care of them,” whatever the fuck that meant. All his words were still a sick jumble in my mind, all the while mocking the idea that I’d slept with him, not knowing any of this. He’d known who I was the whole time, but I had no idea who he was.
I mean, it wasn’t like I was deluding myself either that this was some kind of fairy tale relationship, but I never imagined anything like this happening.
Now that I was paying attention, I couldn’t help blaming myself somewhat. Ezra just showed up in town out of nowhere. He was very mysterious and didn’t talk much about himself, preferring to ask questions about my family instead. The clues were there.Ishould have asked more questions and noted the similarities between the two men. I didn’t know how old Ezra was, but he and my father were probably around the same age, and both of them had military backgrounds. Both were Navy SEALS.
That should have been enough to keep me away.
But then, like an idiot, I’d gone on and had sex with him instead.
