Page 30 of Malice

“Sweetness, the only think making him think that you’re his is that he’s fucked in the head. Could you have done something differently to prevent it? Maybe. Are you the one who caused it? Absolutely fucking not. You are not responsible for his behavior in any way. Only he is responsible for that.” He glanced at her several times, each time turning his gaze back on the road. They sat in silence for the space of several miles. “Do you understand what I’m saying here?”

His words made her turn and look at him a moment.

“I understand what you’re saying, and I’ve been through enough counselling to know that the only thing I can control is my actions. I can’t control him. I can’t control his behavior. Still, I can’t help but wonder.” She held up one hand to stop him from arguing. “I’m not saying I’m to blame. I know better than that. But I’m wondering if I somehow, unknowingly, influenced him or if he was just bug nuts from the beginning.”

“Bug nuts?”

Something about Corey’s tone made her think he found the expression funny. She didn’t care. It seemed appropriate.

“Yep. Bug nuts.”

He shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. “Enough about him. What do you want for dinner?”

“I don’t care. Whatever you want is fine with me.”

He shot her a look that said he wasn’t thrilled with that answer. “Mexican or American food?”

She frowned for a second. “Mexican sounds good.”

“Good. That tells me where we’re going. Next thing on the list—”

“There’s a list?” She did her best to sound horrified, wondering how he would react.

“Yes, there’s a list of things to get done while we’re in town.” He shot her a look that said he knew she was trying to get a rise out of him and it wasn’t going to work, then he continued. “Next on the list is groceries. Start thinking about what kind of thing we should stock in the cabin. I’m not saying we need to have a full pantry or able to fix elaborate meals, but it would be good to have stuff to throw together a quick meal or have a snack or three on hand. That way we’ll have an idea what we’re after when we get to the store.”

“Okay.” She could admit, if only to herself, that he was right. Thinking about it now would probably save them time, and money, in the grocery store.

23

Bythetimetheymade it back to the cabin, Malice wondered if the trip to town had been a good idea. Nothing had happened, or at least nothing that he could pinpoint as being a problem. But it felt like Bonnie was pulling away, growing more distant.

It wasn’t like they were in a committed, long-term relationship where they knew nearly everything about each other, but he still didn’t like it. It felt wrong in a way he couldn’t explain.

Together they carried in the bags from the grocery store, and put his purchases away, then she excused herself, saying she was going to take a shower if he didn’t mind.

He didn’t, and said so. She left, leaving him feeling like something was wrong between them, and wondering if it was something he’d done or said. After as close as they’d gotten the last couple of days, he’d thought he would be sharing the bed with her tonight, but with the distance that seemed to have developed between them this evening, he decided it would be better if he didn’t assume she’d welcome him. Instead, he changed into the sweats and t-shirt he’d taken to wearing around the place while she was here. Come bedtime he’d strip down to his shorts, but that was a bit too little for walking around, especially with someone else in the house.

Not sure what else to do, he wandered around for a few minutes, picking up around the place for a bit before he settled onto the sofa with his book and tried to distract himself while he waited. He didn’t know what was going on, but would it hurt to ask?

As much as he tried to lose himself in the story on the pages, he was acutely aware of when the shower shut off. The minutes that ticked by as he waited for the door to open and Bonnie to emerge. He read the same paragraph at least six times, never making much sense of it, until he gave up and closed the book. There was no point in pretending he was reading, if his focus was that bad.

Still not sure what to do, he picked up his phone and wished, probably for the first time ever, that he had social media. Something to mindlessly scroll through sounded like exactly what he needed right now. Instead, he pulled up a national news site and scrolled through headlines, reading them without much interest or desire to read the articles.

When the door opened, Malice tried not to look up immediately. He didn’t want to feel like he’d been impatiently waiting for her. Like she was being watched or pounced on, not in any way. That would make him no better than the fuckwad she was trying to get away from.

After going into the bedroom for a couple of minutes that felt like an eon, she came back out, a sketchbook and pencils in her hands. He didn’t look up as she settled onto the other end of the couch and got comfortable.

“Is it something I’ve done or said?” He kept his voice soft as he asked, turning to look at her as he set his phone face down on the arm on his end of the couch.

“What do you mean?” She looked up at him, her lashes wet and spikey.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of the shower, or she’d been crying. He hated the idea that maybe it had been both. Maybe she’d taken a shower to get away from him and have a good cry.

“Something’s changed. You’re different. It feels like you’re distancing yourself from me. Was it something I did or said?”

She stared at him with wide eyes for what felt like forever, but was really only a couple of seconds. Then she looked away and shook her head. “No. You haven’t done anything.”

“Then can you tell me what is wrong? I hate seeing you like this. Is there anything I can do?”

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