He rolls his eyes as if I’m just overreacting. My voice gets louder and louder and it doesn’t escape me that Henry’s office is down the hall and I really should keep my voice down.
“How about we talk about the fact that I have asked you on multiple occasions to leave me alone, and yet you seem to ignore everything I say.” My voice is booming now, and I hear Henry’s door opening and when he pokes his head out and his eyes land on Cole, they narrow in disgust.
“Baby, I still love you…” His eyes go soft and for the split second the boy I fell in love with is standing before me, tempting me. Then that look is replaced when a girl dressed in skintight leggings and a sports bra walks by and his eyes follow her until she disappears.
Yeah, he loves me all right.
“Cole, you don’t love me. I don’t think you ever did, you just liked what my last name got you.”
He goes to say something, but I hold up my hand and stop him.
“It’s true and you know it. Every party we went to, every work function you brought me to, you would slip my name in and hope you got something out of it.”
His eyes darken and finally the real Cole emerges, the one he hides from everyone else. The man standing in front of me right now is the man that tried to control every aspect of my life for two years. That’s the man I left behind.
“Get out of this gym right now, you piece of shit!” Henry yells from behind him as Cole’s eyes harden as they bore into mine.
“Get out, Cole. Before I get someone bigger than you to physically remove you.” I fold my arms across my chest and wait for him to leave.
“This isn’t over,” he sneers. “You’ll come crawling back. You were nothing before I came along. You’ll miss me.” And with that, he turns and crashes through the front doors. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as Henry wraps his arms around me from behind.
“You okay, Buttercup?” he whispers.
I say nothing because I have no words to explain how embarrassed I am. That I ever loved someone that could be that cruel. I turn, giving Henry a small smile as I start to apologize when I stop in my tracks. My eyes catch the man standing in front of Henry’s door and when those blue eyes sear into my soul and that smile directs itself at me, my whole body reacts.
Josh.
He’s wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt that shows off his glorious arms and chest, the tight black jeans leave very little to the imagination, in fact, I have to consciously stop myself from looking down. His blond hair is loose, hanging lightly over his eyes, which makes my fingers itch to push the stray strands out of his face. Our gaze meets again and his are questioning, and I know I can’t answer them, or at least right now I don’t want to. The idea that he not only saw the shitshow that was last night but also the scene with Cole just now, makes me want to run and never return.
“Buttercup?” Henry asks, my eyes leaving Josh and landing on my uncle’s concerned ones.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I broke it off with him, remember?” I’m hoping the break in my voice isn’t noticeable. “Besides, if he comes back, I have a whole room full of baseball bats I can use.”
Henry chuckles, kissing my forehead as he places his hands on my shoulders.
“I have to go refill the vending machines; I’ll be in the storage room if you need me.” I don’t wait for his response before I’m walking away, back toward my office. I grab the key to the storage room and book it, wanting to get as far away from Josh as I possibly can.
I shut the door to the storage room behind me, the emotions of the past few minutes crashing over me like a tidal wave. I lean against the closed door, sinking to the ground. Before I have a chance to take a breath, the tears start to fall. We were together for two years… not two decades. Why am I letting him get to me so easily? What’s wrong with me? I gave him all of me, I showed him parts of myself that I never showed anyone, and for what? For him to throw it all away to get between some girl’s legs.
“Fuck!” I scream, throwing an unopened bottle of Gatorade that was sitting beside me against the wall. I’m so fucking stupid. I should have seen the signs; I should have ended it after he started staying late at work. I knew he wasn’t working, I just didn’t want to believe it.
After a beat, I stand up, wiping the tears from my cheeks and sucking in a shaky breath. I can do this; I can get through today and then go home and pour the biggest glass of wine. I reach for the door handle and when I fling the door open and see Josh standing there in his low-cut jeans and tight T-shirt, looking all kinds of delicious, I curse whoever is watching over me. A war of emotions crashes over me as my body starts shaking and I can’t figure out if it’s residual anger from Cole’s surprise appearance or the memory of my dream this morning. Either way, I’m agitated, and my nerves are on edge.
Even though I know it was all a dream, I still wonder what it would feel like to have my fingers graze along his bronzed skin, what his hair would feel like between my fingers and what his moans would sound like the moment his lips touched mine.
“Was that the same guy as last night?” he asks, like he doesn’t already know the answer.
“I think you already know the answer to that
