Page 60 of Sorrow

I’m not clever enough to have a good one, or even something positive. “That if you put something, even something beautiful, where it doesn’t belong... it breaks everything around it.”

Like me.

Frowning, Hayes cradles my head to keep me from breaking his stare. “Who says they don’t belong?”

I do. This isn’t my home.

“I don’t know. It’s your tattoo,” I deflect. “Can we get out now? The water is getting cold.”

Hereleases me without a word and steps away, waving a hand toward the exit with that frown still on his face. “Tell me who called.”

Oh, right. My phone.

Drying off, I hesitate a few seconds before heading over to pick it up. My stomach sinks when I see the missed call. “It was Nate.”

He doesn’t even dry himself off before he wraps a towel around his waist and follows me. “The fuck does he want? Did he leave a voicemail?”

“Yeah, the transcription says he wants me to call him back. Fuck that.”

“Call him back.”

Shit.

Knowing better than to argue, I do it and pray he just doesn’t answer.

I’m not that lucky.

“Sammy?”

“Hi, Nate. You called?”

“Yeah. I—“ Hayes snatches the phone away to put it on speaker just in time for him to finish whatever the hell he was saying. “— it wasn’t supposed to happen like that, and I want you to know I broke up with her for you.”

The dripping giant in front of me tilts his head in a way that tells me his brain just short circuited at Nate’s words, and when his jaw drops and nothing comes out, I know I have to respond.

Shit. What the fuck? “I... what? Why’d you do that?”

Nate’s quiet for a few seconds too long. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“Your girl broke up with you, you mean?”

Nate scoffs. “Who the hell is this?”

I don’t know how to feel about the fact that he doesn’t even hesitate. “This is Hayes Sarro. Be real with her and tell her it took you days to reach out because you were hoping your ex would come back.”

“I was giving her space,” Nate counters. “Are you the asshole who claims he taught her shit? She still doesn’t know anything.”

Hayes surprises me when he laughs, but the coldness of it tells me he’s not actually amused. “That’s because she hated every second of you touching her, dumb fuck. You’ll never get the side of her I get, and that’s on you. Learn how to seduce a woman you lazy bitch, and lose her fucking number or I’ll come over there and personally delete it.”

Jesus Christ. “Sorry, Nate. He’s right though, and I have to go. See you hopefully never.” I hang up before anything else can be said, feeling the rush of blood through my body.

This is real now, I guess. I belong to Hayes. How did I get here?

In a daze, I pull on some clothes and push my wet hair behind my ears. “Satisfied?” I ask, turning to my fucking owner. “Or do you want to call him back and keep going?”

“You’re upset about that? Were you considering him again?”

No. Yes. I don’t fucking know. If I look too closely at it, I’ll have to admit that I’m desperate for a way out of this situation with Hayes. I don’t hate him anymore, no matter how badly I want to. And with him being all possessive and caring every day, I’m terrified I’m going to do something insane like fall in love with him.

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