Page 83 of Scrape the Barrel
Me: Other than my boss stressing me out?
The three dots appeared and disappeared three times before he replied.
Callan: I’ll come by once I’m done with my lessons. Call me if you need me, okay?
Me: Okay. Thank you
Callan: Always, baby. I’ll see you soon
I shouldn’t want to rely on him in this moment, but I wished his arms were around me and his voice was speaking soothing words in my ear. It'd been so long since I had someone I felt like I could turn to in a time like this, and now Callan was the only one I wanted to take my mind off of everything.
I needed him, but I wouldn’t put that burden on his shoulders. I could get through this until he was able to come by.
I was strong.
***
My shift was ticking by at a snail's pace, every minute feeling like an eternity. Tomorrow was my day off, so naturally the entire day was dragging on.
I lost count of how many times I’d scrubbed the counter, but I was wiping at the same spot I’d just been working on twenty minutes ago. I was even more eager to see Callan than I was tobe off. We’d texted and called since our talk in the barn—we even fell asleep on the phone together the other night—but neither of us had brought up my wrist or my ex. It was hard to figure out if he didn’t want to hear about it, or if he was simply not bringing up the topic for my sake.
The cowbell above the door announced a customer coming in, so I tossed the rag on the counter and turned to greet them.
But rather than words flowing out of my mouth, my heart stopped instead, my breath getting stuck in my lungs.
“Hello, Sage,” Jason said, and the greeting was anything but warm.
I swallowed, trying my damned hardest to compose myself. I didnotwant him to see that I was scared.
Fear only fueled him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, but even I didn’t miss the tremor in my voice.
He prowled up to the counter, his movements slow and predatory. Each step echoed through the small eating area, pounding in my ears with the panic I tried to keep at bay.
“You weren’t replying to my texts.” He took another step, but instead of stopping in front of the counter, he turned to come around the side. “Or answering my calls.”
“You’re supposed to be in prison,” I said, not allowing myself to take my eyes off of him.
He came around the corner, facing me. I inched backward a step, holding onto the edge of the counter for support.
“Good behavior gets you a long,longway on such a bullshit charge.”
But we both knew it wasn’t bullshit.
Or at least, I did. Maybe he still believed that what he did was fine. To take charge. To control.
But that wasn’t how you treated a woman, and I knew that now.
All those years spent thinking,maybe this is the last time. He loves me, he wouldn’t possibly do it again.
“What do you want, Jason?”
He held his hands out, palms up. “I’ll make it easy on you. I don’t care about seeing Avery. Just pay off my debt and give me money every few weeks to make up for the hell you’ve caused me, and we’re good.”
The hellIcaused him? As if he never treated me poorly? Never raised a hand to me? He thought he did nothing wrong, as if he had been falsely convicted of domestic abuse.
I hadn’t realized I was shaking until I slid my hand on the edge of the counter as I took another step back from him. He was still slowly coming closer, cornering me.
