Worth Dying for…
Thanks to Lita giving him the wrong turn, they arrived at the restaurant a little late for the reservation Brian made. And when the hostess quoted a fifteen–minute wait, Lita knew her night was spiraling fast. Instead of painting out that he should have used his car’s GPS instead of her phone or mentioning that he shouldn’t make a reservation for the exact time he was showing up to pick her up, Lita looked at his jaw clicking in irritation and slipped into familiar shoes.
“You look so handsome,” she cooed, grabbing his hands and stroking them gently. She stared at his profile as if it was fascinating, as if she were as in love with him as she had been two years earlier. “How’d I get so lucky, hmm?”
“And you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he whispered, the spot where her neck and jaw met. He stiffened again for a second and then pulled away. She suppressed a shiver at him constantly calling her girl, even as she was of age. Hadn’t her age been a huge point early on? So why did he refuse to call her a woman now?
Pushing past any of her feelings, Brian asked, “How’s therapy been going?”
Lita started running through the options in her mind. Was he really asking, or was he just being polite? Sometimes, if he was just being polite, a genuine answer would make him angry. And the reverse would damn her too. She studied his earnest eyes.
“She’s pleased with my progress and thinks the gym is great for me,” Lita admitted carefully, instinctually rubbing her arms. She stepped back, flashing him a reassuring smile.
“Yea, I mean, you spend more time at the gym than at home sometimes,” he clicked his jaw slightly, a mild sign of his temper, before he wicked it into blank mask. “Sometimes I try to wait for you at your apartment, but you must not come back until late…” His throat cleared sharply. “Really late.”
Lita shifted her weight to another foot. That wasn’t true. She worked out on school nights, so she was never home later than ten o’clock. She understood this was an interrogation, though, and he was fishing for information. “Yea, they’re very accommodating with my school schedule. I usually go in the evenings. But I always manage to get home at a reasonable hour.” How long could she get away with keeping her schedule details to herself? Brian nodded absently, “Oh that’s nice, maybe I
membership. Where
his own, gripping it a little tighter than necessary, but not tight enough to hurt. Lita gulped; under no circumstances could she tell him the
into, so my mom had to pull a few strings. I don’t think they’re accepting any more members at the moment.” Lits forced the fakest smile she could manage, pretending
looked down into her eyes as if searching for the lie. Shit. Lita didn’t break her composure, blinking innocently as if
would know she lied. She hoped that by putting it on her father, she’d buy herself the benefit of
dinner and the movie, Brian was still in a great mood. He walked Lita to her
It was almost over. She’d successfully gone the whole date without pissing him off too much. But it took
James died, Brian had gone through a long phase of hating every single thing about her. She couldn’t do anything right, even if she did them perfectly, exactly as he requested. His temper hadn’t just been short, it had
to pull out her key, opening the door himself and standing back
exploring her body with his eyes,
all
over there?
late… and I’m exhausted,” she tried to look anywhere but at him, trying to overcome the sinking feeling in the pit of her
his eyes turning down, but he quickly recovered, “Baby, don’t push me away. If tonight is any measure, we’re just as good as we always were. We don’t need a break anymore. Don’t you want to get back to your life? It’s almost been a year, babe; people get over worse than this in less time. We could be married and moving on from all this sad shit in the
spine went rigid, her stomach dropping as acid burned up her throat. How dare he? She wanted to scream, shoving her fingers into the whites of his eyes. She hated him for saying that. For dismissing James and criticizing her pain.
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UZf4rs6fWvL4nUzJnu6fF0z3ZhqOatC3/h/kDhm4tzzRViDhfFg2EVEhgp2A6otUPH0YrYxj0Fo4yLFyLrM2JY6L56AgNMfF+YbNA3ChXx4WxlqPT/Uzr9kJKjzrHY/bysoC8OCEPS2sEb8QvxLz3iai34nQkP6JkY0GN32PWgucArvJ5orRnGBqpTs5TncW7GqxONAY/sRkSH0xzqQnp69U2l0ZaM+AC2NyE5/Lqsq6TVLy08UDzQrLQsG3YHroTgi54LafX/T6iTjIdmJ5edKdSP0gAMJQqoA9H4wEfuhjRc9+2zH0OOQuZYXaPr+7w59/vZc7SMjJ/awy2R5A7rxoVCJRipv1Jp+AahU6SV//RaC73S0S
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