Page 37 of It's Holy Matrimony, Baby

“Yes. I assumed it would be okay.”

“Are you fucking with me?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I squeeze my hands together in front of me. “I made a few changes. But you still have your couches. And your bed.”

“Wait.” He glances at the bedroom, his hand coming up, palm out. He strides toward the open door, stops on the threshold and mutters, “Fuck.”

“What do you think?”

“You should have damn well said something, Beck. Instead of springing this on me. You could have asked. You can’t take everything a guy has and do whatever you want with it.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, you fucking nailed it,” he growls, stalking back to the kitchen to finish his beer. “Where’s my furniture? The stuff in storage?”

“Somewhere safe,” I tell him.

He stares at me long and hard. The bottle in his hand clinks against the countertop as he puts it down. His throat tenses and releases, a vein under his jaw popping to the surface. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Not until you sign the papers. If you want your bachelor pad back the way you like it, your life back the way you like it, then all you have to do...” I face him across the island and slide the envelope in his direction, “...is give me my freedom. Otherwise, it’s not too much for you to let me have a say in how we live.”

Something dangerous glints in his gaze. It makes me shiver. He’s furious. Absolutely livid. Beyond what I expected him to be. He picks up his keys and his phone and marches to the door. “I have to go.”

“Where?” I ask.

“Don’t know.” He yanks the door open and walks through it. “Need some time alone.”

I jump as the door slams shut behind him. The cabin grows quiet. I’d almost prefer it if he’d stayed and voiced his displeasure, if he’d yelled at me or called me a drama queen again. But this is better, right? Leaving has to mean he’s considering signing the papers. And that’s a good thing because I need him to give up. Bad things happen when I get close to people. Worse things than a little furniture rearranging. I can’t be that foolish again.

A loud cracking noise fills the quiet, and then a thud and a bang. Something rolls across the floor. Turning around, I find a pile of broken Ikea where my coffee table was ten minutes ago.

Relationships. Furniture. I’m not good with either of them.

Nox left several hours ago, and I’ve been sitting on his couch staring at my broken coffee table. And not because Hollander decided to make himself at home on my lap. He’s a huge cat. The size of a medium dog or a dwarf lion if such a thing exists. Massive. So heavy. He pinned me down and forced me to stroke his plush fur by headbutting my hand. But I’m also trying to work out what I’m supposed to do now. Pack my bags for when he comes back? Go searching for him?

I dig a spoon into the peanut butter and pop it into my mouth while I cradle the phone to my ear. “Nox only has crunchy peanut butter.”

“Tell me you aren’t eating it off the spoon,” Liv says.

“Um.” I stare at the spoon still half covered in peanut butter. “Okay. I am not eating crunchy peanut butter off the spoon.”

“You so are.” Liv’s probably wrinkling her nose like something smells bad right about now.

I drop the spoon back in the jar. “Well there’s no chocolate anywhere in this cabin.”

“What happened?” She sighs.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me nothing. I know you too well. The only time you say nothing is when there’s definitely something on your mind.”

“Fine.” I roll my gaze to the ceiling and let out a huff. “We got into a heated discussion about my redecorating his cabin. He was livid because I didn’t talk to him about it beforehand. And now he’s gone, and I have no idea where, or whether to worry about him or not. Or if I should pack my bag for when he comes back. I have no experience with this. What does it mean when they walk out like that?”

“He probably needed a breather. Are you worried he’s going to tell you he’s done?”

“No. Of course not.” That’s exactly what I want. It’s why I spent the afternoon moving and putting together furniture. Only I’m not as happy about the idea of breaking up with him as I should be.

“You like him, don’t you?” Liv asks.

---