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“Why are you being obtuse about this?”
“Why are you trying to start a fight?”
Seriously. She couldn’t do this right now.
“I should go so I’m not late.”
“Yeah, go.” He waved his hand toward the door. “Let’s ignore whatever the hell is going on here.”
“We got married very fast, Brick.”
“I can see you are regretting that decision this morning.”
“That’s not what I said. Stop putting words in my mouth.” She had the urge to stomp her foot like a petulant child. He was being so hardheaded about this. Of course, she wasn’t making herself very clear either because she didn’t know how to explain how she felt. Her emotions were so tangled together.
The one thing she knew was she loved Brick. She truly did. But they had gotten married rather abruptly, and last night’s events showed that. Bradley was right in one sense. She hadn’t told her family about it and that had to hurt them. That wasn’t her intention, but despite her motivations behind it, she had hurt her family. She had to apologize for that.
“You better go so you’re not late. Don’t want to disappoint your father.”
Ouch. It’s as if he slapped her hard across the face. His words sunk deep inside her soul. She knew she had already disappointed her father by not telling him anything.
“Maybe this was a mistake.”
He flinched, his eyes flashing with pain before masking his emotions. His lips were pressed into a thin line. It was the only indication she had upset him.
She knew right then, her words had been a mistake. She didn’t regret marrying him, only how she handled the situation with her family. Now she was ruining this situation as well. The more she stood here trying to explain anything, the worse she was making it.
“I’m sorry, Brick.”
She grabbed her purse and fled the apartment before she said something that would irrevocably ruin their relationship. She didn’t want to lose him.
* * *
“Scrubany harder and you’re going to take the lacquer off the counter.” Jaxson sat at the bar with an easy grin.
Brick wanted to smack him with the rag in his hand. He didn’t feel like grinning, so nobody else should be grinning in his presence. The rag went sailing across the way until it landed with a big smack in the sink on the opposite side of the bar. It was better he didn’t have the potential weapon near him, and Jaxson was right. If he kept wiping the counter down, he’d burn a hole in it or something.
Yet he had to release the turmoil creating havoc inside his system somehow. Jezebelle had been gone for only thirty minutes and he was going out of his mind.
I’m sorry, Brick.
What the hell did that even mean?
Sorry she married him?
Sorry she started a fight?
Sorry because she wanted to get a divorce already?
He wanted to scream her name in anguish as she walked out, yet he didn’t make a sound. He didn’t move a muscle. He simply watched the woman he loved walk out of his apartment—maybe even out of his life.
Jaxson’s smile dimmed as they stared at each other.
“I’d ask if you’re okay, but you don’t look it, so I won’t ask such a stupid question. What happened?”
Brick didn’t want to get into it. Yeah, sure, he didn’t mind listening to other people’s woes. He enjoyed it actually. If he could help one person find a solution to a problem and make their life a little bit easier, it made his world seem not as bad.
Jaxson was his friend, though. A man outta be able to talk to his friend without it turning into a pity party. Where he’s the one receiving the pity. God, he hated that. He experienced it too much in his childhood, other kids looking at him like he was a rat from the wrong side of town. Which he was. Everyone knew his dad was a deadbeat drunk who liked to curse out his kids and wife with little provocation. He might’ve never brought it up, but they always knew somehow. Probably from his expressions and attitude that were hard to hide. So, yeah, he had perfected keeping things close to his chest, his deep, deep emotions locked inside.
