loft in front of her and then went in search of him. She found him in the kitchen, pouring a couple mugs of coffee.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice still tired and hoarse from last night. Todd turned from what he was doing and gave her a smile then a cup of coffee and a bottle of Tylenol.
“For your hangover,” he said in lieu of a greeting.
She gratefully took the offering. “Thanks,” she said, sitting down at the island. Counting out three pills, she closed the container then tossed them in her mouth, chasing them with the hot coffee. “What time is it?”
“Nine.”
“Shit! I should get going. Where’s my stuff?”
“At the rehearsal space.”
“I left it there?”
“Yeah,” Todd answered, taking a drink of his coffee. “You weren’t thinking straight.”
“Thanks for taking care of me.”
“Always. Now go get your shoes and I’ll drive you to the studio.”
She did as told, but not before taking another couple drinks of her coffee. Todd let her into the studio and she located her purse and coat in her office. Stuffing her arms into the sleeves, then grabbing her keys from her purse, she headed out to the car. Todd’s car was still there next to hers. As she approached, he rolled down his window. “If you need me, just call, okay? Any time.”
She smiled at her friend. “Thank you,” she said, before getting into her car and heading home, preparing herself for battle because she knew there’d be one. She really wished she’d washed up before going home, it would make her feel a little less like death.
When she opened the garage door, Ethan’s car was still sitting there. He was home. After pulling next to his car, she took a few deep breaths, trying to shore up her defenses.
Mia exited the car and made her way through the garage and across the back patio to the house. With a strengthening breath, she pushed open the door. Ethan sat in the family room in the chair that faced the door, obviously waiting for her, his angry eyes glaring at her.
And in that moment, guilt began to pile itself upon her yet again. She couldn’t go back to that woman who drank to run away. She absolutely could not go down that road again.
Shutting the door, Mia stepped inside, shed her coat, and put it and her purse on the table. She stayed silent, just waiting for what Ethan had to say, and the wait wasn’t long at all.
“Where the fuck have you been?” he roared, rising to his full height, making Mia feel like an insignificant speck of dirt.
“Obviously not here,” she stupidly said. Her husband’s face turned a shade of red she’d never seen before. “I didn’t want to come home last night, so I didn’t.”
“Where did you stay?”
“I had planned on staying in my office …” she said, knowing where she stayed would be like a bomb going off.
“Mia. Where. Did. You. Stay?”
Looking up to meet his eyes, she told him. “At Todd’s.”
A number of emotions crossed her husband’s face, but the three that stood out were shock, hurt, and rage. With her eyes on his face, she didn’t see his movements. Suddenly he had her pinned against the door with his hands and his body. She broke eye contact at that but his fingers on her chin brought her back to his furious eyes. She didn’t want to tell him about the drinking she had done last night but she knew she had to.
“I had too much to drink last night. My strength disappeared on me,” she said. What she didn’t say was that he was that strength and she had needed him yesterday. “He didn’t want me driving or staying at the studio by myself so he took me to his place.”
She tried to close her eyes but his fingers dug into her jaw when she tried. He wasn’t letting her escape this.
“Why didn’t you call me to come pick you up?”
Her face scrunched up in anger as tears rushed to her eyes. “Because I was pissed that you didn’t come! You should’ve been there with me, Ethan, and I was so mad that you weren’t!”
Ethan’s hold on her loosened and she saw what she thought was maybe regret on his face, but she never had a chance to find out. The doorbell rang, followed by Luke calling out their names. Ethan lowered his head and quickly possessed her lips before stepping away from her and heading to the front of