Page 130 of Hate You Forever (Hate 1)

I nervously bite my lip. “When it comes to Cohutta…” Marnix’s gaze flicks out the window behind me at the mention of his best friend. “I can’t tell you what’s going on there either, because honestly? I just don’t know. We both care about you, but there’s something between us that’s unexplainable. You might not like it, but I won’t choose between you two. I won’t put that wedge there, and I won’t risk losing either of you. But if you can come to terms with that…” Please let him be okay with that. At some point, I’ll have to tell him about Rush too, but this moment is too good to ruin.

“Then Marnix Andrew Taylor, I’d like to try this whole being your unconventional wife thing for real too.” A wife who’s also into your best friend, and your bodyguard. A wife who wasn’t meant for the East Side but found herself there anyway, falling for the controlling asshole she married.

“Good. I’m glad we’ve got that settled.” The confidence in his tone makes my heart flutter. He didn’t say he would be opposed to the Cohutta part, and he seems interested in giving us a shot, so that fills me with the hope I didn’t know I was missing. “So should we do this?”

“Might as well rip the bandaid off,” I grumble, remembering where we are. “Wait.”

“What?” Marnix looks at me, his brows furrowed in confusion. I pull his face to mine, smashing my lips to his. It only takes him a moment to realize what I’m doing before he kisses me back. It’s a frantic kiss, one I didn’t plan, but one I needed more than I realized. I break it off before I do anything crazy like rip his clothes off right here in the backseat and fuck him before going in.

“Well, that was unexpected,” he murmurs with a smile.

I laugh, nodding at him to open the door. “Had to get it out of my system. We can go now.”

“We’ve got other things to get out of our system later.” He winks, before pulling on the handle, leaving me blushing.

Can we just go back home and do those things now?

We step out of the car, and Marnix gives Rush a stern look. “Stay out here and keep an eye out. If anything even remotely weird happens, call me.”

Rush nods and mutters, “On it,” before climbing back into the driver’s seat.

My eyes fall to the tiny yellow house where I grew up. The painted wooden siding is now all chipped, the dark cypress wood peeking through. I take in the cracked concrete of the walkway to my parent’s door. So many memories out here. So much chalk that's washed off over the years. So many skinned knees from falling off my bike. Not much has changed since I went off on my own. There’s even half a rope still hanging from the tree in the front yard where my tire swing used to be. Dad keeps saying he’s going to cut the rope down, but it never gets done.

Walking toward the door, I run my sweaty hands down my dress, getting more nervous the closer we get. Marnix grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze. Thankfully, he doesn’t let it go, and it’s all the reassurance I need. No matter what happens here, we’re headed in the right direction together.

Instead of knocking, I walk right in, announcing my presence. “Mama, Papa,” I call out when I don’t see them in the living room. I hear voices coming from the dining room so we head that way. “Mama, Papa,” I call again, and this time I’m greeted by both of my parents’ smiling faces.

“Ah, there she is,” my mom coos, before her attention turns to Marnix. She glances down to where our hands are connected. “And you’ve brought someone with you. Who is this, honey?” Her head tilts in question. I can’t blame her. I’ve only ever brought home one other man before so this has to be a shock.

“Mama, this is—” My words are abruptly cut short by the person rounding the corner from the kitchen. My entire body goes rigid, suddenly feeling like there’s a hundred pounds sitting on my chest. It’s hard to breathe, but the anger inside me pushes my words out. “What the fuck?” I croak.

“Dahlia, it’s about time you showed up. Oh, and you brought company. How charming. This day keeps getting better.” Zayan strolls in, stopping next to my parents. He’s got a huge grin on his face, like he’s enjoying seeing the panic coursing through me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growl at him, ready to lunge and gouge his eyes out. I look up at Marnix, who’s giving Zayan a cold glare.

“Tara!” my mother and father snap at the same time. My mom’s looking at me like I’ve lost my damn mind for speaking so harshly to someone they think so highly of. If only she knew.

“It’s quite alright.” Zayan pats them both on the shoulder like they’re old pals. Anger bubbles inside me at seeing him looking so cozy with my parents, completely unlike the demon he actually is. “I told you I’d be seeing you soon, didn’t I?”

“Get out.” I pull my hand from Marnix’s, getting ready to punch Zayan in the face to protect myself, but my mother’s words stop me.

“Tara, that is no way to speak to Zayan,” she chastises me. I don’t have any problem beating his ass right now but I don’t want to do it in front of my parents.

“No way to speak to…” I laugh. Actually fucking laugh, like a lunatic. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” They’d think I was being kind with my words if they knew who he really was.

“Tara, what is going on?” my dad asks, his stare bouncing between all of us.

The weight of this situation is crashing down on me at once. Everything about this is fucking wrong. He shouldn’t be here. I should’ve told my parents about Marnix coming, then maybe they wouldn’t have allowed Zayan to be here.

This is bad. So fucking bad.

“I just... I need... I can’t...” My chest is heaving up and down, trying to take in as much air as possible. My legs are wobbly, struggling to keep me upright. They somehow start working as I move toward the bathroom to get some air. I need to think. I need to figure out what I’m going to say, what I’m going to do and how to get out of this mess.

“Tara.” Marnix’s voice seems so far away, even though he’s so close. He sounds worried, but I can’t deal with that right now. I probably shouldn’t leave him alone out there with Zayan, but all I can focus on is getting some space so I can figure my shit out.

“Always with the dramatics.” Zayan’s voice fades the closer I get to the bathroom. I swear I hear Marnix tell him something, but my brain is so overwhelmed right now that I can’t function. Numbness has taken over my limbs, barely carrying me into the quiet space. My vision is blurring to the point that I think I’m going to pass out. Everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion, but I eventually make it to the toilet so I can heave up whatever’s in my stomach.

What the hell is happening? This can’t be real. When he said he’d be seeing me soon, I didn’t expect this. I didn’t think he’d fucking involve my parents in his little game. And Marnix? Fuck, he has no idea what Zayan’s done to me.

---