Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
‘I’ll stay.’ He makes the decision for me, and, with my own head not helping me out, I go with his instinct and nod a little.
‘You can leave,’ Micky butts in. I look across and find my oldest friend looking the most serious I’ve ever seen.
‘I’ll be staying,’ Jack counters smoothly and firmly, getting to his feet, showing no shyness at being virtually naked. I follow his lead, gathering the covers and pulling them in before standing and facing my friends.
The look of disdain on Micky’s face is fierce. ‘How about I don’t give you the option?’
‘How about you do and this doesn’t get nasty?’ Jack retorts, the muscles of his back tensing dangerously.
‘All right!’ Lizzy interjects, holding her hands up, looking as equally pissed off as the two men in the room. She closes her eyes and gathers strength. ‘What the hell is going on, Annie?’
‘She’s fucking a married man, that’s what’s going on.’ Micky spits nastily. ‘Why don’t you run along back to your wife? Tell her what you’ve been up to? Or maybe I should go tell her.’
Jack lunges forward threateningly, leaving me no choice but to jump in his path before they start scrapping in my lounge. ‘Stop!’ I shout, placing a hand on Jack’s chest firmly. ‘I think it’s best you go.’ I look up at him, and he immediately starts shaking his head.
‘No.’ He looks adamant. ‘Not so these two can make you start questioning what you’re doing.’
‘That’s exactly what we’re going to do,’ Micky yells. ‘Make her see some fucking sense.’
‘Just stop!’ I yell, turning to face my oldest friend. ‘I know what I’m doing!’
‘You do?’ Lizzy pipes up. ‘Are you sure, because I’m pretty sure you must have lost your fucking mind, Annie. What has he promised you? He’s going to leave her?’ She laughs coldly. ‘Yes, they all say that, but when it comes to the crunch, they’re all ball-less. You’re a bit of fun. Something exciting and different. Don’t you see that?’
‘It’s nothing like that,’ I yell, starting to lose my shit. Her experience, albeit at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, cannot be used as a comparison. ‘And if all you’re going to do is stand there and make judgements, you can leave now. You know nothing about this, and you don’t look like you’re in the mood to listen, so get out.’
Both of my friends recoil, shocked, and Jack’s hand rests on my shoulder to calm me. It won’t work. I’m infuriated that they think they have our situation nailed. They don’t. I’m not just fucking him. I back up into Jack’s front, showing where my alliance lies, my face fixed and determined.
‘Calm down, Annie,’ Jack says quietly from behind, turning me to face him. He looks down at me with a soft smile, reaching up to my eyes and wiping under each tenderly. ‘This is just part of the process. One of the challenges we need to face.’
He’s talking to me like there’s no one else in the room, and it’s having the effect he’s wanting. Under his soft order, I swallow down my frustration and pull myself together.
‘Don’t drive your friends away. You need them.’ He dips and pushes his lips to my forehead, and though I now can’t see his face, I know he’ll have a trained eye on my friends. ‘I’m going to get dressed.’
He heads for my bedroom, slowing when he reaches the door, needing Micky to move so he can pass through. It takes my friend a few seconds to find the courtesy, but he eventually shifts to the side, allowing Jack to pass, even if it’s on a curled lip. I see Lizzy blow out a breath as Jack disappears and Micky uncoils a little.
Then they both look at me again, but before I let their condemnation beat me down, I turn and scoop up my T-shirt from the floor. ‘You can put the kettle on if you want to stay. I need to get dressed.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Lizzy sighs, taking Micky’s arm and pushing him through to the kitchen, leaving me alone. I spend the few minutes it takes me to dress trying to dampen down my simmering resentment. I fail. But I need to face this head on. No more hiding.
When I join them in the kitchen, I find Lizzy is drinking wine and Micky has a beer in his hand. I’ve pushed them to drink.
‘I didn’t give you a key so you can infiltrate my privacy,’ I say as I get my own glass down from the cupboard and pour myself some wine. I’ve pushed myself to drink too.
Neither of them have anything to say to that, but I’m not kidding myself that the conversation ends here.
‘I had a training session with Jason this afternoon,’ Micky explains. ‘He was telling me he bumped into Tom.’ His head cocks, his eyebrows rise. ‘And Tom mentioned some bloke breaking down your front door.’