Page 30 of Moments in Ink

“You’re going to pay for those words.” His breath was warm and putrid against my skin as he leaned forward.

“Phone’s out,” Zia said, and I heard the fear in her words. I hoped like hell Ash couldn’t.

He had scared Zia. Precious and sweet and unflappable Zia.

And I would never forgive myself for that.

“Go away. Three, two…”

He didn’t make me finish. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked away. I would call my lawyer soon. I would figure out what I needed to do. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do next. What was I supposed to say?

“He’s gone?” Zia said, sliding her hand around my waist. I flinched, moving away from her, and I watched her face fall, tears filling her eyes for an instant before she blinked them away. She swallowed hard and moved back.

“That was your ex?”

I closed the door after I made sure that Ash was indeed gone and locked it up tight.

“Yes. That’s my ex-husband.” Heat flashed over my skin, embarrassment covering my body. “You should go,” I said quickly, knowing that I needed to get her out of here. I needed to feel something, needed to do something, and I couldn’t do that when she was watching me.

I had to be the strong one. And I couldn’t do that if she was here.

She looked as if I had slapped her.

“What? No. I’m not leaving. Let’s talk about this.”

Fear made me speak next. “We don’t need to talk about everything, Zia. What do you want to know? That’s my ex-husband. He belittled me, hated me in the end, and is a horrible human being. And he also never liked to lose. He was the perfect football player, the perfect athlete. He practically never lost a game because his school had enough money to get the best things. He never lost until he got old enough for people to finally tell him that he was wrong. And I didn’t see him for what he was until it was almost too late. Apparently, he figured out where I lived, and that’s something I’ll have to deal with later. But it’s over. I made mistakes, as you can tell.”

“I’m sorry. But you’re not responsible for his mistakes.”

“I chose him. And I really don’t have good taste from the looks of it.”

The barb hit, and I hadn’t meant it to. I had only meant it to be about my failures, but once again, Zia looked as if I had struck her.

“I’m going to let you deal with whatever you need to because you’re lashing out at me. Something you never do. And I don’t like it. No one gets to treat me like that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that to be aimed at you. It’s just about my ex. But you should go anyway. I need some time to think.”

“Maybe you do need time to think. But know this, I care about you.”

I swallowed hard.

“This isn’t the time, Zia,” I said. I was so fucking scared that she would tell me something more. Something that would break me.

Because she was so amazing, so sweet, practically perfect. And I was anything but.

“No. I get to say this. You can call me a bitch later for making you listen. But I care about you. And I’m falling in love with you. Imagine that. Me? Falling in love again. Shocking, I know.”

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but she held up her hand.

“I need air. Because I don’t know what to do about you. Or what you’re going to do. But you need to think long and hard about what you want. I know you said you didn’t want anything serious, and I can see why after meeting that ex of yours. But I’m not him. And you don’t need to punish me or yourself for his shit. So, think about it. I need to breathe.” And then she went to the door, unlocked it, and walked away, leaving me standing there in the doorway as our delivery man showed up with our food, too much for one person.

And it was all my fault.

I deserved this. I deserved to be alone.

I was good at it.

Chapter 8