“No, that’s not what I meant—”
“I don’t care what you meant. Walk away. Now.”
She stayed rooted to the spot.
“You’re going to make me storm out of here like last time?” I couldn’t stop myself from raising my voice. She was making me angrier and angrier, and I was afraid Emerson would walk in here and see this at any moment. “Get the fuck away from me.”
Ryan and Camille turned to look at us.
Now I was really pissed. “Great, now everyone is looking at us.”
Kevin walked over, probably to de-escalate the situation, but he was the worst person for the job. “Tabs, come on.” He grabbed her by the arm.
“Tabs?” I turned my ferocity on him. “Seriously? You guys chummy enough for nicknames?” My ex-best friend and ex-fiancée had kept in touch all these years? They were close? I lost my best friend and fiancée the same night, and they continued a long relationship that had lasted ten years? And I’d lost them both? “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Kevin stepped in front of her, like I might hit her or something.
“Now I’m a wife-beater? You think I’m gonna hit a woman?”
“No.” Kevin kept his voice down. “I just—”
I punched him so hard in the face that he hit the ground with a loud thud, going unconscious just like last time. “Maybe I do hit women…because you’re not a fucking man.”
Tabitha was white in the face, paralyzed like she didn’t know what to do.
The woman who must have been Kevin’s fiancée screamed then ran over, kneeling and examining him with hysteria.
Ryan’s eyes were wide open as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
And Emerson stood there, wearing an expression I’d never seen before.
I turned to Tabitha, hating her more than I ever had in my life. “Why didn’t you just leave me alone?”
Her eyes watered, and she stepped back.
I’d just ruined this night like a fucking asshole.
Because I was a fucking asshole.“Derek!” Emerson’s voice was behind me, along with the sound of her boots on the concrete. “Slow down.”
I took the stairs as quickly as I could without running. If I used the elevator, I would probably run into someone from the wedding, and dropping down fifty floors was an eternity at a moment like this. The emergency stairwell was the best option because no one would be there—which was exactly why Tabitha and Kevin had chosen to have their private conversation in one ten years ago.
“Jesus Christ! Talk to me! I’m not going to chase you.”
I halted at the sound of her voice, the way she yelled at me to get my attention. I turned around and looked at her, one hand on the metal bar that wrapped around the entire corner.
She stilled, like she hadn’t expected me to actually stop. She breathed hard and gripped the bar for balance. Her forehead shone with sweat because we’d darted down ten floors in just a minute or so.
I’d stormed out of there as quickly as I could, pushed through that door just like I did at my own rehearsal dinner. I relived it, piece by piece.
“Derek, I know you don’t like to talk about things, but we need to talk about this.”
“Do we?” I asked coldly. “Seeing it with your own eyes wasn’t enough?”
“I don’t like to make assumptions…”
I shook my head because it didn’t matter. Everything was different now. It was hard to believe that three weeks ago I was happy, that I was a whole new man. The last four months felt like an alternate reality that had never actually happened. “I can’t do this anymore.” I hadn’t been in this relationship in weeks, and now I wasn’t in it at all.
She was absolutely still as she listened to me, giving no reaction at all. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I don’t want to be in this relationship anymore.”
She was still calm. “That’s too bad, Derek. I’m not going anywhere—”
“When someone wants to break up, you break up. Sorry, Emerson, but that’s just how it goes.” I was tired of her commitment and her support. I didn’t want it anymore. I wanted her to leave me the fuck alone.
She started to breathe more rapidly as she digested my cruelty. “It’s been a rough few weeks. I understand—”
“You fucking lied to me!” My voice reverberated off the concrete in the stairwell, making me sound even louder than I normally did when I raised my voice. “You didn’t tell me about Lizzie. You’re a fucking liar, Emerson! You’re a liar just like the rest of the garbage in this city. You’re no different from Tabitha. You’re no different from Kevin.”
She breathed harder, her eyes starting to moisten with tears. “Derek—”
“I don’t want to do this anymore.” I turned away.
When she said my name, it came out as a hysterical shriek. “Derek! Please don’t do this.”