want to talk to you right now. We can talk later.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you’ve explained yourself to me.”
“Explain what to you?”
“Why you’re acting like a total and complete bitch.”
The words leave my mouth before I can rein them in. I know I shouldn’t have said it. Blaire’s eyes grow wide. She clenches her jaw.
Before we started sleeping together, we used to throw a lot of curses around. Even though the arguments seemed real and full of actual irritation with each other, it was a bit of fun too. Blaire wouldn’t have taken this to heart if we weren’t sleeping together; she would have just shrugged it off.
But now we are in some kind of relationship together, and I know it was a mistake to use those words.
A sly half-smile is on her lips. There’s harshness in her eyes. I want to apologize to her, but I don’t know how to. I don’t want to apologize here. I need to be alone with her so we can talk in peace.
“If I’m a bitch, I wonder what that makes you,” she says and rolls her eyes away from me.
“Okay, do you want to step outside this place for a few minutes so we can have an actual conversation?” I ask.
She raises a hand halfway, just to catch the bartender’s attention. It doesn’t take her any time. He’s probably been eyeing her all night.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she hisses, turning to me with her narrowed sparkling eyes.
What the actual fuck is going on? Is she drunk or something?
“Blaire…” I try to reason with her, but then I feel a hand on my shoulder. It’s that bastard, Stephen.
I don’t care what he’s about to say or do, but I spin around and punch him straight in the face. He staggers backward and then falls, landing in a crash into a group of people who were behind him.
Blaire screams and rushes to him. He’s flat on his back; there’s blood dripping from his nose.
Blaire and some others help him up. Behind me, Calvin pushes through the crowd to my side.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Blaire screams at me. Stephen is wiping his face, smearing the blood all over his cheek.
“I’m fine. I’m okay,” he mutters as I push my fists into my pockets again.
“You need to leave me alone. Just leave, Trevor!” Blaire continues with the same screaming voice.
Calvin puts a hand on my shoulder, and I flinch at that.
“Come on, buddy, we should get you out of here,” he says in a low voice.
I glare at Stephen, and he looks away. The bastard can’t even look at me anymore. I knew he was chicken. He should have kept his grubby hands to himself.
I look at Blaire again, but now she’s helping Stephen back on his stool. I know he’s exaggerating his injury. It was just a bash on the nose; he doesn’t need her arms around him all night.
I give them one last look before I let Calvin direct me out of the bar. I can sense people staring but I don’t give a fuck. Once we’re outside, my friend turns to me and shakes his head.
“What was that about? I didn’t even know where you’d disappeared to until I heard the screaming and shouting.”
I rub a hand over my face. We’re walking in the direction of my apartment building. Is Blaire coming home? Maybe I’ll be able to speak to her later. I need to figure out what’s going on with her.
“I don’t know. I shouldn’t have hit him. I shouldn’t have called her a bitch,” I reply in a solemn voice.
I know Calvin is surprised by all this. I’m not this guy. Blaire is turning me into a savage, and I feel like I have no control over myself anymore. This is all her fault, and now she wants to wash her hands of me.
Blaire never came home last night. I kept an ear out for her. I tried to listen to every sound through my walls. I even walked up and down the corridor outside our doors for a little while. I’m hoping Anya hasn’t noticed any of my strange behavior. I just wanted to talk to Blaire and figure out what’s suddenly changed between us.
I’m at work now, and I’ve asked Erica to cancel all my morning meetings. I don’t think I’ll be able to focus. Instead, I pick up my phone and dial Blaire’s assistant’s number directly. She puts me through to her,