Page 7 of Unravel Me

“Love you bad, my ZoZo.”

I shower and get dressed in some clothes I borrowed from Zoe’s closet; a cute cream sweater that hangs off of one shoulder, and a pair of high-waisted leggings. I pull on my booties from last night and glance at myself in the mirror, trying to manifest the bravado I need to face the day. I’ve got this.

Brooks’ apartment building sits in one of the premier areas of Seattle. It has views of the city and water and screams luxury with its sleek modern design and furnishings. It also screams Mommy and Daddy’s money. I use my keycard to access the elevator and my skin starts to itch as it slowly rises upward to his floor. Wringing my hands in front of me, I take a deep steadying breath, doing my best to calm the panic clawing its way up my chest before opening the apartment door as quietly as I can. As much as I need to face Brooks and collect my personal things, I really don’t need any more visions of him rutting sloppily into another random partner.

“Ivy? Is that you?”

Is he for real right now? Who else could it be, dumbass?

I walk into the open living room as Brooks leaves the bedroom in a pair of dress pants, barefoot, electric razor in hand. God forbid he’s anything but perfectly clean-shaven. Bile rises up in my throat at the thought of his smooth skin on mine. What did I ever see in him?

Maybe it’s the September Virgo in me, but when I’m done with someone, especially if they do me wrong, I am completely done.

Queen of Detachment.

Goddess of Dissociation.

Empress of Indifference.

All emotions are gone and I feel nothing at all. My withdrawal game is so strong it’s like he never existed at all.

“I knew you’d come back to me, darling.”

Darling? I hold back a dry heave. He starts to approach, and I put a hand out to stop him from coming any closer.

“Nope. Fuck nope, Brooks. I’m here to get my things. That’s it.”

“You can’t be serious, Ivy. Don’t be a bitch about this. We’re going to work through it.”

“Don’t be a bitch about what exactly? The fact that I walked in on you fucking someone else? How long have you been sticking it in other people? You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

But his face confirms everything I already assumed. I thought I had decent people-reading skills, but damn if I didn’t miss some red flags on this one.

“Just let me get my things, Brooks, and I’ll be out of your way.”

I move farther into the apartment and collect two duffel bags from the storage closet before heading into the master bedroom, my boots clicking hard on the wood floors. Brooks watches methe entire time, making my skin crawl. His eyes wander all over my body and a smirk spreads across his smug face.

I rip open the drawers of our shared dresser and shove my panties and bras into the bag, making sure to grab my vibrator that’s hidden under it all, before moving into the walk-in closet to collect the rest of my clothes. I pull everything off the hangers, not particularly caring how I’m packing, just making sure I get it all so there’s no need to ever step foot here again.

I return to the bedroom where Brooks is sitting on the edge of the king-sized bed with his hands pressed in front of him. Ignoring him, I scoot into the bathroom when I hear his steps follow. A shiver runs down my spine as he walks up behind me and places a hand at my hip and his other on my exposed shoulder. I shrug him off, but with him behind me, I’m squashed against the bathroom counter. He pushes his hard dick into my ass, forcing the marble edge of the counter to dig into my hips. My heart rate starts to pick up as fear and panic start to take over. I close my eyes for a split second and take a deep breath to hold on to the control.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Brooks. Give me some space to pack.”

“You love it and you know it. Don’t make this difficult. We’re going to work through this and move on. You’re fuckingmine. We work because we give each other space. But you know who you belong to at the end of the day. I may fuck other people from time to time, but you’re who I want to be with. We can have makeup sex and everything can go back to how it was before. Don’t pretend like you don’t love when I fuck you.”

Whipping around to face this arrogant asshole, I give his chest a push to put some space between us. Call it courage, fear, or stupidity, I can’t take any more of this.

“Do I love it, though? Do I? Aaaah. Ohhh, Brooks! Yes! Yes! Aah,” I moan, and I watch as his face transforms from blissful,cocky arrogance to pure anger. “Sound familiar, dickwad? Younevergot me off. And I meannever. Not once. I waited for you to go into the bathroom and made myself come.

Every.

Single.

Time.

And the bikini barista you were shagging? She was faking it too. She looked bored, you dumbass. As far as the other shit you spewed? I’m not even going to dignify it with a response. Now get out of my way so I can pack the rest of my things and leave you in Mommy and Daddy’s apartment to do whatever the fuck it is you want to do.”

I toss everything in my bag and rush out of the bathroom.

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