Page 6 of Only Ever Yours
“Do you have wine?” I blustered, averting my eyes to a mark on the skirting board and abruptly changing the subject.
Jase let out a laugh. “Hollis, we’re two single blokes living together. Our fridge is full of beer and maybe a mixer if you’re lucky.”
“Then I should go out and get some,” I declared. “I need a drink.”
A deep laugh bubbled from his lips. “I bet you do.” Then he turned his back to me and sauntered off to what I assumed was his room. The muscles in his shoulders rippled underneath his lightly tanned skin, and I couldn’t help but drop my eyes to his arse and the way the white towel clung tightly to it.
Blowing out a breath, I went back to my own room andgrabbed my bag, making sure I had my phone. I fully intended to nip out to the local shop, get a bottle of cheap wine, then come back to the house, and crash out.
Ten minutes later, I stood in front of the fridges in the local supermarket, trying to pick a bottle of rosé.
“Hollis? Is that you? What are you doing here?” A voice came from the end of the aisle, and I twisted around to see Ella Hardy, Finn’s ex-girlfriend, moving towards me. “I thought you were in London.”
She reached me and whisked me into a swift hug. Despite her and my brother no longer being together, we had remained friends even though I hadn’t seen her for a while. I didn’t really know why they’d broken up because they made a really good couple.
“Well, I’m back.” I stepped back and smiled.
“For a visit or for good?”
Great question.“Definitely for now, and we’ll see about the future.”
Ella frowned. “What happened? Weren’t you living with your boyfriend in London?”
I glanced at Ella’s basket, which contained a frozen ready meal and some healthy green smoothie thing. “Do you want to get a bite to eat and catch up properly?”
The group of friends I’d had in Maplebrook through school and college had drifted apart once we’d all chosen to go our separate ways in life. We still kept in touch virtually and on special occasions; however, Ella had been the one constant friend I’d always had even after she’d split up with my brother. It would be good to talk to someone who wasn’t close to the situation.
“I’d love to.” She discarded the basket and linked her arm in mine. “Let’s get out of here.”
It wasn’t long before we were sitting at a corner tablein Bar 1380, one of Maplebrook’s most popular bars. We’d already ordered a bottle of rosé, the remains of which were sitting in a wine cooler surrounded by ice, and we were waiting on pretty much the entire contents of their starters menu. Ella topped up our wine, and we clinked glasses, saying how good it was to see each other again.
“Come on. Spill.” Ella leaned forward slightly, fixing me with an inquisitive stare.
Taking a long pull of my wine, I paused before starting to talk. Actually putting it into words would be the first time I’d spoken properly about it to anyone, except giving Finn the bare bones of the situation. “It…didn’t work out how I thought it would.”
“What do you mean?”
It would have been easy to tell Ella the same story I’d told everyone else. That Gil and I had drifted apart and decided it would be better to part ways now, rather than keep up a pretence for our friends and family. But it wasn’t the truth, and I couldn’t bottle it up any longer.
“It started off fine, right up until a few months ago. Then everything changed.” I swallowed a mouthful of wine, steeling myself to tell the whole truth.
“What happened?” Ella’s brows knitted together.
“He started questioning everything. Like, if I wanted to go out with a work friend, he needed to know exactly where I was going, who I was with, what time I’d be home. And he’d message me the whole time I was out.”
“Isn’t that him being a caring boyfriend?”
I debated whether to get my phone out and show her the stream of messages he’d sent on the last night I’d been out without him. Knowing it would help her to understand, I unlocked the device, found the thread, and pushed itacross the table to her. Ella went through about fifty facial expressions as she read.
“Hollis! Jesus, that’s pretty full-on. Did he ever lay a finger on you?” Her eyes radiated concern as she passed my phone back.
Thankfully, he hadn’t. I shook my head. “No. He always used words, never his fists.” I couldn’t deny his words had sometimes done more damage than anything physical could have done. “I couldn’t let it go on any longer, so I told him it was over and moved out of the apartment about six weeks ago.” I could see Ella wondering what had gone on in that time, and I went on. “I ended up staying in an apartment a colleague rented out as a holiday let, and for about a month, it was okay. I hadn’t seen Gil in a while, but then he kept turning up when I was out with friends, following me home, that kind of thing.”
Ella shuddered. “Ugh, definitely stalkerish behaviour.”
“The other night, he turned up at the flat off his face on God knows what and told me he wanted us to be together again. And if he couldn’t have me, no one could.” Even saying the words aloud raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
“What the actual—” Ella’s jaw dropped, and she reached for her glass. “Did he have any kind of weapon?”
