Page 104 of The Scars I Bare
“That was more than generous. More than he deserved.”
“I told you I’d try. Besides, I couldn’t let the guy leave, trashed.”
“Thank you,” she said. “But, if it helps, I’ll go spit in his drink.”
I laughed, a real one this time, as my hands found hers and decided to do what I’d been waiting to do all night.
I took her by the hand, and we danced until we forgot all about complications. Until all there was left was us and infinite possibilities.
The night grew late, and many of the guests had left. I sat back at one of the tables, watching my two best friends slow-dancing, laughing and smiling like they were the two happiest people on the planet.
No doubt they might just be.
Cora was once again on the dance floor with Lizzie, who refused to go to bed, holding out as long as she could. Cora, knowing she’d fail miserably with a house full of people, gave in and decided a few extra dances with her daughter never hurt anyone.
Sitting there, watching them, I couldn’t agree more.
“Got everything wrapped up in a nice little package, now don’t you? And record timing, too. What? A month? Or has this been going on longer than that? Are you the reason she moved down to this crappy town?”
I turned to see Blake basically falling into the seat next to me. He smelled like a bourbon distillery. I guessed my invitation for a drink hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“What?” I said.
“The thing you have going on with my wife.” He paused. “Excuse me, myex-wife.”
I shook my head, feeling a mixture of anger and embarrassment for the guy. “Not really any of your business, is it?”
“Nope,” he said, staring down at his empty glass. “Not anymore. Not since she left me. She was always so difficult, you see.”
“Difficult?” The word made my blood boil.
“Yeah,.At first, I loved it. Growing up, no one ever defied me. Everyone did what I’d asked. Nannies, tutors. Hell, I even got my professors to change a few poor grades in college with sheer determination. But Cora? She was so different. So real. She had a genuineness about her, and I found it so interesting. Captivating really. I kept trying to force her to fit into my world, but try as I might, she didn’t. God, she’d make me so angry.”
“And so, you hit her?” I seethed.
His eyes flashed. “I never said I was perfect. Besides, looks like it all worked out in the end. For you at least.”
“For me?”
“Sure, you get to be the hero. Swoop in and steal my place.”
“Steal your place? No one is stealing anything here, Blake. You gave up everything the minute you struck your wife,” I said, my voice lowered. “This,” I said, “them”—I motioned toward Cora and Lizzie—“they could have still been yours if you had just realized you already had everything you wanted and stopped acting like a pathetic, spoiled little bitch. That woman is amazing. Just the way she is. She doesn’t need to be changed or molded into someone else. She’s already perfect.”
His eyes settled on Cora for a brief second before coming back to me. I saw a flash of pain and then something else. Malice. If there was one thing I’d learned from Cora, it was that, when Blake was hurting, he lashed out.
And that look in his eyes confirmed one thing. Blake had just put on his fighting gloves.
His eyes slowly lingered down toward my left arm to the prosthetic hand peeking out of my suit jacket. “Figures she’d pick someone like you.”
I stood up, the sound of my chair scraping against the wood floor grabbing the attention of several people around me. I knew I shouldn’t react, but part of me couldn’t help it. I’d been a ticking time bomb since this guy showed up, and that daring look in his eyes was like dangling a carrot in front of a starved horse.
I couldn’t resist.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Clearly pleased with himself, he rose to the occasion. “Well, I suppose it means, for starters, you’re weak. Crippled.” He reached out and flicked my prosthesis for effect. “If I was scared and alone, starving for attention, and ran into you? Well, I just might fall in love with you, too. I’m assuming you have some sort of sad, sappy story to go along with this piece of plastic on your arm? Something that really gets the girls’ juices going. How many times have you used it?”
My body was humming with raw, untapped anger as he rambled on, smiling nonetheless. I could see what he was doing as he was doing it.
