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This was a tad bit scary.
“You’ve had more of a voice in our relationship or lack of it for years. Your voice is the reason the Fierces thought we’d fit. Every time you saw me, you made sarcastic comments. They saw what I saw. What I knew. That there was a spark. That came fromyouwhether you want to admit it or not. All they decided to do was flash the matchbook around.”
“Not true,” she said.
“Very true,” he stated firmly. “You just refuse to believe it. Fine, lie to yourself if you want. But I’m not lying to you. I wanted you years ago. For more time than I can count, I’ve tried to have you give me a chance again because I knew we could be as good as we are together.”
“Fighting?” she asked.
“It’s always been you doing the fighting,” he said softly. “I’ve let you have your way and hoped I could get you to see something great.”
“So you used me?”
“There is no getting you to see reason,” he said. He started to pace around the living room. He knew shouting at her wasn’t going to help. It never did in life. That was why he lowered his voice.
“What I see is that I look like a fool once again.”
“You’re the only one that sees that. No one else does,” he said. “And what’s the big deal anyway? You just admitted that if you knew, your stubbornness would have kept us apart. Why? Does that even make sense to you? Everyone knows what the Fierces do. There is no harm in it. Look around you. Think back. You’re the only one that didn’t see we were set up together. Even after we were together and you told people they had no part in it. What was everyone’s reaction?”
She was silent for a minute. Then she said, “They always said their parents would take the credit for it. But we knew each other before.”
“That’s right, we did. Ask yourself this. Remember what you told me before. Chloe and Royce knew each other for years too. It wasn’t until the Fierces put a bug in their ears that they’d be good together. Chloe took that step.”
“Shit!”
“That’s right,” he said. “But that bug didn’t make me take the step. Everyone knew how you felt about me. Including me. But I still pushed your buttons long before the Fierces set their first kid up. You know it.”
She let out a sigh. He was getting to her. He knew it.
“So?” she said.
Her stubbornness was a wall that took more explosives than he had to break through. “Sometimes there is no talking to you.”
“You knew what you were getting with me,” she argued.
“That’s right. You can hold a grudge for things that aren’t true until you decide you want to see the light. It’s frustrating as all get out. You don’t want to be thought of like your mother, but right now, that’s what you’re doing.”
It was the worst thing he could have said, but he couldn’t hold it back.
She grabbed her purse and keys. “Fuck that, Gabe. That’s low and you know it.”
“Sometimes we have to hit the bottom to climb out,” he said softly and then watched her slam out the door.
Yeah, he was wrong and he’d have to apologize for that. If she gave him a chance.
He lifted his fist up and then put it down. He wasn’t putting it through a wall. He was going to try to remember that he loved her spicy side. Her straightforwardness too. Even her stubbornness.
Just not when it was directed at him.
All he could hope for was that Richard could calm Elise down and get her to see the truth in things.
40
EXPECT NO LESS
Elise rolled out of bed bright and early on Monday.
Not that she was feeling so bright.
