AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are you doing here?”
He holds out my phone. I take it from him, making sure our fingers don’t touch.
“Can I come up?”
I shake my head, my whole body revolting at the thought. There’s so much left unsaid between us. I know that. But tonight, I want to get lost in a bottle of wine and forget.
“I don’t want to see you right now. Much less talk to you.”
He gets up, but he doesn’t step closer. “Please, Bailey. The way we left things last night…I don’t want it to fester. We need to fix this, and we can’t do that if there’s space between us.”
The rage I feel is instantaneous. “We?Weneed to fix whatyoubroke? There is no ‘we.’ There’s only a you and an I. I think I was pretty clear on that last night.”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I refuse to accept that.”
My hand clenches on the bag I’m holding, and I’m so damn tempted to hit him over the head with the bottle of wine. But that means going back to the store to buy a new one, which feels like too much effort. So, with much difficulty, I push back my murderous tendencies, taking a deep breath.
“I don’t care about what you want or need. What I want is for my husband to not have fucked another woman. What I want is to not have to feel this way. What I want is for you to stop pressuring me into something I’m not ready for. What I want is for you to leave.”
By the end, I’m almost shouting, and it makes me even angrier that we’re airing our dirty laundry on the sidewalk where everyone can see. It’s hard, but I manage to claw back control over my emotions.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to talk to you, Quinn, but I know that that day is not today. So please, if you’ve ever felt anything for me, just leave.”
His shoulders drop. “I’m so fucking sorry, Bails.” The last time I heard his voice so broken was the day his grandpa died, but unlike then, it doesn’t move me.
“Yeah, me too,” I say, trying to brush past him, but his hand on my arm stops me.
“I’ll leave. I’ll give you the space that you need for now. But I’m not going to go far. You can be angry at me. Shout at me. Hit me. Do whatever you need to do. I deserve it, and I’ll take it but don’t expect me to do nothing. I’m going to fight for us no matter what.”
He drops his hand, and the urge to get away from him is so strong I don’t watch to make sure he leaves. For all I care, he could sit on that bottom step and rot. Once I’m safely inside, I grab a glass, and after a quick rinse, I pour a glass of wine.
I don’t have anything in mind but drinking until I pass out.
“My marriage is over. I’m single. For the first time in my life, I’m single.”
No matter how many times I say it, my voice echoing through the empty apartment, it still doesn’t feel real. It feels foreign like I’m talking about someone else.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
QUINN
“YOU CAME,” Justine breathes, leaning in to kiss me.
I pull back before her lips touch mine, ignoring the look of hurt that flashes across her face. What did she expect? What about pausing our relationship did she not understand? I don’t want to be here. I want to be wherever Bailey is, doing whatever I can to earn her forgiveness. I’ll crawl on my knees if I have to.
“You said it was urgent?”
The note of hysteria in her voice when she called me had me rushing over, a million worst-case scenarios running through my mind.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
I shake my head. “You know I can’t be here. What’s wrong?”
She’s standing in the middle of her foyer, wringing her hands.
“Justine,” I sigh, “Just tell me.”
“I think you should sit.”
