Page 35 of You Found Me
But the closer I get, I see that it’s Chance standing there.
I know I should ignore him. It’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last two months. But when he raises his hand, cheekily wiggling his fingers at me, my anger rushes out of me before I can stop it. “What are you doing here?!”
“Well, I came hoping to talk some sense into you, but clearly you’re still upset.” I watch his eyes roam over me, slowly from head to toe. “The better question is why’re you leaving the hospital all dolled up? You never leave in anything but your scrubs. Who is he?”
“Oh my god, Chance. Why I’m dressed up is none of your business. I’ve told you multiple times that we’re done. If I want to get dolled up for someone else, it’s not your concern.” Seething with anger, I add, “You lost the right to know anything about what or who I’m doing when you decided to cheat on me.”
Brushing past him, I reach for the door handle only for him to grip my wrist and pull me against his chest.
“Emma, I’m sick of your bullshit. You’re gonna take me back. My agent is down my throat about presenting this image of an ‘All-American Family Man’ for a few of the events the team has coming up, and that doesn’t work when you insist on being such a bitch about this.”
“I don’tcarewhat you or your agent needs. And for the last time, my name is Emmaline. I’ve told you repeatedly since we met that I don’t like being called Emma,” I say, then attempt to pull away—making his hold on my wrist grow tighter.
He sighs as if I’m the one being unreasonable. “My agent says I need to have you on my arm for this event coming up, because it’ll look better if I have my fiancée there. So, you are going to show up, wearing the ring and a nice dress, and you’ll tell everyone how happy we are.”
Tears prick my eyes from the pain of his grip. “Chance, stop. You’re hurting me.”
Out of the corner of my eye I notice Faith walking to her car.
“Honey, you okay?” she calls out to me.
Chance lets me go and harshly whispers, “Tell her you’re fine.”
I do, and I tell her again that I’ll see her next week. She hesitates for a moment, but in the end gets into her car and drives off.
He pulls me into him, gripping my bicep. “The games you’re playing are getting old. You’re never gonna do better than me, and once you get that through your stubborn head, we can get married just like we planned. I refuse to let you make me look like an idiot all because your feelings got a little hurt. You have four months to come to your senses before you need to be on my arm at the team’s Christmas Charity Gala, smiling and singing my praises.” He releases me roughly, knocking me into my car, before walking away.
I make the drive to Theo’s in utter disbelief that Chance would corner me like that outside of work. Calling and harassing me over the phone is one thing, but showing up and acting the way he just did, is never something I would’ve expected.
Not once have I ever felt scared of Chance, until tonight. He’s always had a temper, sure, but it’s never been directed at me.
He’s also never laid a finger on me, until now. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, and as much as I don’t want it to be my problem, I worry he’s going to make it mine anyway.
Before I go inside, I grip the steering wheel, take in a few cleansing breaths, and tell myself I’m here to celebrate Mia and enjoy her birthday dinner. Tonight is about Mia. Making sure I look calmer than I feel, I step out of my car and walk up to the charming house.
As I step through the front door, Colette is coming out of the front bathroom. One look at me and she senses that somethingis off with me and makes her way over. “What’s going on? You look upset.”
“I’m fine. We can talk later. I really just want to focus on Mia.”
I can tell by her face she wants to press me for more information, but instead she just nods, giving my arm a light squeeze. The same arm Chance had a bruising grip on. Somehow, I manage not to wince.
We walk into the kitchen where I spot Mia talking to Spencer and Beckett, the latter I didn’t know was coming. Spencer notices me first and waves, which causes Mia to turn around, grab another glass of wine, and bounce my way.
Handing me the glass of wine, she pulls me into a side hug. “I’m so glad you’re here! I know you said we didn’t need to wait on you to eat, but it’s not my birthday without my other best friend.”
“Oh, you really didn’t have to! I’m sorry I’m later than I told you I’d be.”
“What did I say about worrying? I told everyone not to come until seven once your schedule changed, so you haven’t missed a thing,” Mia assures me.
“I really appreciate it,” I blink away the tears that threaten to fall and clear my throat, “though I do feel like I missedsomething. What is Beckett doing here?”
Laughing, she says, “Spencer mentioned last week that he was coming into town. And obviously I wanted eye candy at my dinner. I didn’t know that he’d offer to take over making my birthday cake. Just wait till you see it! It’s stunning and almost too pretty to eat. Just like Clark,” she adds with a wink. “Though, I heard him telling Spencer something about a girlfriend which means I need to back off with the flirty remarks. I’m no home-wrecker.”
I force out a laugh. “Well, I’m glad you’re getting a sweet treat on top of an even sweeter treat tonight. As long as you look and don’t touch, I think you’ll be fine.”
She nods, then claps her hands to gather everyone’s attention. “Okay everybody, let’s go eat.”
I down the glass of wine in my hand and pour myself another before I go sit at Theo’s massive dining room table. Colette is to my left with Spencer on my right, at the end of the table.
