Page 153 of Mine

I grabbed my phone and threw it across the house as hard as I could. It hit the mirror above the couch, shattering the glass and sending shards flying everywhere.

I wanted to break everything.

Fuck.

I was just like my father, wasn’t I? Panic rushed through me. What the fuck was I doing? I grabbed the bottle and tipped it down the sink, gripping the edge of the counter.

Fuck. My thoughts continued to spiral. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to understand what I’d missed. What had I missed? Where did I go wrong?

I loved her. I loved her so much, and it wasn’t supposed to be this way. It didn’t matter that our lives had crashed together, they were meant to be intertwined.

I’d missed something. We’d fallen into everything so fast, but it’d felt so right that I never stopped to second-guess it. Did something go wrong in one of our kink scenes?

Did I hurt her?

The fear of hurting her made it hard to breathe.

I looked back up at the mirror and cursed. Some of the shards had stayed in the frame, and I could see myself.

I needed help.

My head tipped back as tears started to fall. I needed to call Nancy. Because this was too much, and I couldn’t handle this alone.

Finally, I left the kitchen and went into the living room. I was wearing my shoes, at least. The glass crunched underfoot until I found my phone, my hands shaking as I texted Nancy.

I need help please. I’m sorry.

Are you at home?

Yes

I’ll be there ASAP

Don’t bring Beth

I couldn’t let Beth see me like this. Fuck, she’d been right to warn me, hadn’t she? I’d burned too hot and fast and now everything was on fire.

I tried calling Pepper again, but it went to voicemail. “Pepper,” I rasped. “Please fucking call me back. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Ending the message, I wiped my eyes and stepped away from the majority of the glass covering the floor, until I found a spot that seemed clear enough and sat down.

And I cried.

I hated crying. All the years of abuse from my father growing up, and I’d learned how to hold the tears in. But I wasn’t strong enough to do that anymore, so I just let them fall.

A soft knock eventually sounded, but I barely noticed it. The sound of the front door opening had my head lifting.

“Simon?” Nancy’s voice followed. “There you are.”

I looked up at her and didn’t say anything. She looked around the living room for a moment, but she didn’t look horrified. Instead, she refocused on me. “What happened?”

“She broke it off.”

Nancy shut her eyes for a moment, her expression flickering with a wince, but then she opened them and came over to me. “Christ, did you have a drink?”

“Yeah. Why the fuck am I so cursed?”

She knelt down slowly and pressed her lips together. “You’re not cursed, Simon.”

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