The First Taste (Slip of the Tongue #2) - Jessica Hawkins Page 0,94
He tilts his head. “I paid for the bed you fucked him in. I might as well own your left tit.”
I lunge for him before I even make a conscious choice, but he leaps out of my grasp, anticipating my attack. Amelia clasps onto my elbow, pulling me back with all her weight. “That’s what he wants,” she says. “A reaction. Don’t give it to him.”
Slight as she is, she’s able to subdue me long enough for the initial shock of his words wear off. “You piece of shit—”
He looks at her. “It’s the truth, and she knows it. You can play boss all you want in the bedroom, but you know who’s in charge. Me. Your only choice is whether you decide to fight against me, or alongside me.”
“Go to hell,” she says, stepping around me. I gently take her bicep, keeping her closer to me than him. “You’re a sad, lonely man with nothing better to do than swindle people out of their money and make me miserable.”
He laughs loudly. A small crowd has gathered, and a couple teenagers have their cells aimed at us. I wave to get the boys’ attention. They stuff their phones in their pockets before I even say, “Put it away.”
“Sad? Lonely?” Reggie asks. “You don’t know anything about my life. Women smell money, Amelia, and I’ve got lots of it. They’re all over me. But you know something? I haven’t touched a single one. Because I have a good woman at home, one who doesn’t make me want to go find someone else. Virginia is—”
“Virginia?” Amelia asks, her body stiffening against me. “You told me it was over with her.”
“I lied. She’s left Robert. As soon as you and I divorce, I’m proposing to her. She makes me happy, something you never did. She’s there when I leave for work and when I come home. She doesn’t treat me like I’m second place to a job.”
“Is that why you came to my place the other week, begging me to take you back?” she asks.
“You’re right—I must’ve gone temporarily insane,” he says. “You nag, you question every decision I make, you act like I didn’t give you everything. Virginia is grateful and never makes me feel like I’m not enough. She fulfills all my needs—she doesn’t even have to try to be beautiful and sexy, unlike some women.”
“Watch it,” I say, stepping between them. “I’m restraining myself for her sake, but you’re on my last fucking nerve.”
“If you have all that, then why won’t you let me go?” she pleads.
His eyes go blank, as if she’s just asked him the square root of the Brooklyn Bridge.
“I think you should leave,” I tell him.
He doesn’t even look at me. “You first.”
I step closer to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. What I meant was, get the fuck out of here before I kick your ass all the way to Hoboken.”
Finally, he looks up at me, and for all my rage, the fire in his eyes is a little alarming. Whatever this thing with Amelia is, it runs deep for him.
Before I can figure it out, he sets his jaw and retreats. The haze over his eyes clears, and now, he’s focused on me. “Fine.” He holds up his palms. “I guess she’s allowed a revenge fuck considering the circumstances. But I know what we have,” he says, “and it doesn’t go away just because I made a mistake.”
He stalks off, roughly pushing his way through the crowd. Once I’m comfortable with his distance, I turn around. “‘A mistake,’” I mock. “He has a seriously fucked-up perception of reality.”
Amelia’s hunched over with her back to me, pinching the bridge of her nose. I put an arm around her. “Hey,” I say. “He’s gone.”
She ducks away from me too suddenly for me to stop her, especially since it’s the last thing I expect. “I just need a second.”
“That’s fine.” With my arms empty, I cross them over my chest. “What’s going on?”
She shakes her head, looking at the ground. “I can’t believe him. I thought it was over.”
I want to pull her back to me, but I can practically see the emotions working through her. Whatever just caused tears to form at the corners of her eyes is being replaced with anger. As much as I want to do something, I don’t know what will help, so I wait.
“How could he want that home wrecker? I’ve read about adultery, and a lot of the time,