I stared in disbelief at the stack of papers and the check Nathan pulled out. He’d done all that and hadn’t said a word about any of it.
“And that’s not all,” he said in his best impression of a daytime gameshow host. “I also figured out how to solve both of our work problems. You need a job, and we need a receptionist. Think about it, baby. It’s perfect. You get a stable job working with guys you love, and we get a receptionist with a brain in her head who can write out and correctly spell our messages. It’s fucking perfect.”
My disbelief morphed into shock. At least I think it was shock. I couldn’t really take stock of anything at the moment because of the buzzing in my ears.
The dinners, sweet as they were, he did without asking if I had anything planned.
My car.
Managing Ryan and Wendy—all the while not telling me that they knew.
The lease. My landlord!
And now my job.
All of it without a single input from me. All of it decided by him.
Hope’s words from earlier came back to me. “Nathan is a really forceful kinda guy.”
“Nathan will take over.” Dylan had warned me. “Inch by inch, until you don’t know who you are.”
Doormat.
Inch by inch.
“Maddie? Did you hear me?” Nathan tilted his head. “You okay?”
“Am I okay?” I repeated. “I don’t know. Maybe you should tell me how I feel.”
Nathan blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you’ve apparently decided to run my life. How am I supposed to feel right now? Am I allowed to be angry? Or is this the part where I drop to my knees and service you out of gratitude?”
“What the fuck? I didn’t—I don’t know what’s going on right now.”
“Did you give notice at work for me? Or sign a new lease for me too?”
“That’s not fair.”
“It’s absolutely fair. You decided that my car wasn’t safe, so you went and changed my oil and rotated my tires without even asking me.”
“Of course your car isn’t safe. You called roadside service a few weeks ago. I was worried about you.”
“No, you acted without talking to me. Again. I’m a grown woman. This is my life. I’m the one who makes the decisions about it. I’m the one who decides where I work and where I live. Not you.”
“What are we fighting about right now? I helped you.”
“You didn’t help me. You took over. And seriously, what the fuck? I’m not a receptionist. I’m a librarian. That’s not the same fucking thing! I don’t want that job. I want a job doing what I want to do!”
“It doesn’t have to be a permanent position. Just something to tide you over until you find the job you want.”
“But that should be my decision. Not yours. The same with my apartment.”
“I’m lost. Are we seriously fighting over the fact that I got you out of your lease? Really?”
“Oh my god.” I took a breath and covered my face with my hands. I had to calm down. Before I said something I’d regret. “Haven’t you heard a freaking think I’ve said? Are you trying to paint me as the illogical woman who’s throwing a fit?”
“You kinda are,” Nathan muttered under his breath.
But I still heard him. And I saw red.
“You know what? You can take your steaks and shove them up your ass. I’m done.”
I stomped over to where my purse usually was. But it wasn’t anymore. Where did I leave it? I couldn’t see it, but I did see my keys that Nathan had taken without my permission sitting on the table next to the front door. I snatched them up.
“Come on, Maddie. Where are you even going? You don’t have a place to stay.”
“Like hell I don’t.”
“You can’t go back to that hellhole of an apartment. It’s not safe.”
“It’s my decision, isn’t it? You don’t get to control me, and I’ll be damned if I’ll be a doormat for you to walk all over.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
But I wasn’t there to answer Nathan’s question. I’d already slammed the door behind me.
I was halfway to the parking lot when I heard Nathan’s yell behind me. “Maddie, come on. Don’t do this.”
I ran to my car and said a silent prayer he’d put it back together, so I could get the hell out of here.
“Maddie!” Nathan pounded on my window. “Where the hell are you going?”
The engine roared to life. I slammed the gear shift into reverse and peeled out of the space. I was dimly aware of Nathan cursing, but I didn’t look back.
The fact that he even thought I was stupid enough to go back to my old apartment said everything. He thought I was a silly, immature girl who couldn’t take of myself.
I refused to think about the fact that the only place I had to go was my parents’ house. It didn’t prove his point. He was the one being ridiculous here.
But I didn’t make it that far.
I pulled onto the 5 and merged into the middle lanes. Since it was Saturday night, the traffic was fairly light. And didn’t mask the familiar motorcycle merging about a half mile behind me.
Nathan.
Seriously?
I swiped at the tears coursing down my cheeks. I had every right to feel the way I did. He’d gone behind my back and arranged everything for me. Despite me. It pissed me off that I’d tried for weeks to break my lease and Nathan cleared it up in one fucking afternoon.
When I heard a motorcycle pull up beside me, I didn’t bother to turn my head. I knew it was Nathan. And I
