Page 19 of Grateful for You
I stood and reached across the table to take her hand. “Nice to meet you, Carey.”
Carey’s grin widened as she glanced between me and Mason. “Likewise.” If I had to guess, this man hadn’t had a woman at a holiday in years.
“I hope it’s okay that I brought one more person,” Carey said. “He was at the inn and about to go get Chinese Takeout all the way in Concord because nothing here in town was open.”
“Happy Thanksgiving.” The raspy tone made my blood run cold and my heart leapt into my throat.
No.
I glanced up, catching John’s icy gray eyes as he entered Mason’s dining room, a challenging smirk creeping up his mouth. “I hope this is okay,” he said, handing Mason a bottle of wine. “It’s the best I could find at the gas station.”
He laughed. Mason laughed. Everyone in the room laughed… except for me.
He raked a hand through his dark, silky hair, flashing Carey that disarming smile. I knew that smile… hated that smile. It was the smile that won me over two years ago. That smile had convinced me he was a good guy and would always take care of me. Even after he’d started getting abusive.
I fell for it hook, line, and sinker each time. Just like everyone here in this room was also falling for it.
But not this time… not for me. There was no way he was going to convince me to come running back to him. Athena rushed into the dining room and hid beneath my chair.
John crouched down to her level and held out his hand to Athena. “Aw, a dog. I love dogs… what’s her name.”
“Athena. Named after theWarriorgoddess.”
For just a second, his good ol’ boy demeanor dropped, and that smile turned to a sneer as he looked up at me.
Athena let out a low growl, and he quickly tugged his hand back… it was my turn to smirk.
“That’s weird,” Mason said, sitting back down beside me. “I’ve never heard her growl at anyone before.”
“Huh,” John huffed and sat down on the other side of Carey—directly across from me. “She must not be good with strangers.”
Mason’s brother set his fork down. “How’d you know she was a ‘her’?”
“Um… Athena. Her name’s Athena.”
“Yes, but you asked whathername was first… before I told you it was Athena.” I lifted my brows, awaiting his response. That’s right fucker. Dig yourself out of this one… it’s been two minutes and he already fucked up. There was no way he could keep up this rouse for an entire meal.
But, as always, he grinned playfully, bringing his shoulders to his ears. “Just a guess. I had a fifty-fifty shot of getting it right.”
Mason’s hand fell to the back of my neck, scooping beneath my hair, he trailed his fingers up and down my skin in soft, affectionate strokes. I loved how, even in front of his friends, he wasn’t afraid to show affection.
John’s eyes fell, cold and hard to my neck, and the grip on his fork became white knuckled as he speared slices of turkey to put on his plate. “How long have you two been…together?”
Mason smiled at me and gave my neck a squeeze, still completely oblivious to the dynamic between John and me. Could I tell him? Should I just blurt it out here in the middle of Thanksgiving that this seemingly friendly stranger was the same man who gave me the bruise on my face?
My gulp was disguised as I swallowed a bite of sweet potatoes. I didn’t want today to be about me… aboutthat. I just wanted a nice, normal Thanksgiving dinner with Mason and his friends.
And the really strange thing… I didn’t feel as scared now, sitting across the table from John, as I had felt a day ago. There was nothing he could say or do to get me to move back in with him, outside of dragging me back to his house kicking and screaming. And I didn’t put that past him… but I wasn’t as scared of it anymore. Maybe I should’ve been. Maybe I should’ve still been terrified of the sociopath across from me. But I also knew every tactic he’d ever successfully used on me before would no longer work. Every cutting remark, every backhanded compliment, every promise to change was bullshit. All the good stuffandthe bad stuff he had ever said to me was complete bullshit.
I wasdone.
So fucking done.
And so… I smiled back at him. A smile that was so jarring, his knuckles knocked into his wine glass, nearly tipping it over.
That’s right, asshole. This is a new Piper.
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