Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
“Don’t you dare turn this on me. This is about you. I thought you were trying to earn Presley’s trust back. You told her you wanted to be a family again. And this is how you show it? By getting drunk and fucking some random woman while your son and his mother are in town with you?”
“Getting a quick fix doesn’t take away from my feelings for her. Presley has wanted nothing to do with me sexually. I was feeling stressed and needed relief, for fuck’s sake. A man can only take so much. Between the new job and Presley fucking rejecting me over and over—I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I just needed to feel good for one damn night.”
Something told me this couldn’t have been the first time he’d done something like this.
“One night, huh? Look me in the eyes and tell me this is the only time you’ve fucked around since showing up in Beaufort.”
When he looked down at his shoes, I had my answer. Jesus Christ. I wanted to murder him. I’d spent all this time miserable, away from the woman I loved out of respect for a man who had no respect for her.
“None of this has anything to do with my love for Presley,” he said.
“You don’t really love her,” I said.
“What are you talking about? Don’t tell me how I feel.”
“No,” I repeated. “You don’t love her. You couldn’t possibly love her.”
“And how would you know that?”
I took a deep breath in. “Because when you love someone, you can’t even stomach the thought of being with anyone else. When you love someone, you belong to them in every way—mind, body, and soul. And even when you’re not physically with them, you respect them. Love and respect go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.”
Tanner’s eyes wavered between mine. “You’re talking about Presley, aren’t you? I saw the way you looked at her back in Beaufort. I figured you were just checking out a piece of ass, like you always do. Then when I saw you two at the hospital...” He shook his head and laughed angrily. “But I put that thought out of my mind, because my brother would never do that to me. My brother is a stand-up guy.”
I had no idea what to say or do. But apparently he could read me better than I could read him.
He shook his head. “You’re fucking my girl.”
Whether I was in the wrong or not, I couldn’t let him call her that. I gritted my teeth. “She’s not your girl. And she hasn’t been for a long time.”
“She’s mine!”
“Presley isn’t a possession for you to claim. You hadn’t been interested in her for years. Or your son, for that matter. No one thought you were ever coming back. You’d given us every indication that you wouldn’t be. What happened between Presley and me wasn’t about you—it was about us. And, yes, I felt guilty, but not enough to stop it. You’d hurt her enough already. You didn’t deserve her then, and you don’t deserve her now.”
He stared at me incredulously. “How could you fucking do that to me?”
“I didn’t plan it. It just happened. We got close, and it turned into the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m sorry…but I love her, Tanner.”
He swung at me. Luckily, he was too drunk to aim correctly, and he missed. I couldn’t afford an injury right now, so I had to rein this in. It wasn’t very hard to do, given how inebriated he was.
Managing to get him into a chokehold pretty quickly, I spoke into his ear, “We need to talk more about this in the morning, when you’ve sobered up. If you know what’s good for you, leave her alone tonight. She didn’t do anything wrong, and you’ve hurt her enough already. Go back to your room.”
When I released him, he walked backwards toward the hotel entrance, a look of hatred aimed at me. I felt like shit, but at the same time, a huge weight had lifted off my chest.
Then, a wave of panic hit.
What if he goes to her room?
He’d already disappeared into the lobby, so I jogged after him. The automatic doors at the entrance slid open just as he passed the elevator bank ahead of me in the distance. I knew from my mother that Presley was on the top level at the other end of the floor, and I needed to be certain he wasn’t going to bother her.
I dropped back and trailed him as he walked through the lobby and turned down a corridor leading to guest rooms on the ground level. At the end of the hall, I ducked out of sight, sneaking peeks to watch him as he stumbled from side to side. About halfway down, he stopped at a door and spent a solid minute trying to dig the key out of his pocket. When he finally pulled it out, it took him a few tries to get in, but eventually he disappeared inside. I waited a while to see if he’d come back out, and then quietly walked down to his room and listened by the door. After ten minutes, without hearing any sign of movement, I figured he must’ve passed out. I still needed to warn Presley, though, so I took out my phone and started to text her.