I make a face. “Never said you were.”
“By doing this, you have.”
I glare. “That’s bullshit.”
“You knew I wouldn’t be okay with this. You knew I didn’t want your help or anyone else’s, yet you did it anyway! That’s why you hid it. How could you? I feel so betrayed.”
I shake my head. “It’s not even like that. I did it because I love you—”
“If you loved me, then you wouldn’t have done it!”
“Not true!” I yell back, my eyes burning into hers as my breathing kicks up. “We’re talking about moving in together, kids, marriage. I mean, fuck, Aviva, what happens when we get married? All your debt comes with you, and then what? Am I supposed to let you struggle while I’m rolling in dough? Let your asshole of a landlord treat you like shit and see the stress eat you alive? My job is to love and support you, and I feel I do that really well.”
Her eyes widen. “We aren’t married, Nico!”
“Not yet, but you better believe we will be, because I’m not going anywhere. I want you, I want to marry you, and I want to make you happy. Believe me, I would have told you, but I wanted to wait until maybe we were on our deathbeds.”
I said that to make her laugh, but she doesn’t. Her eyes are aflame with anger, and soon, tears start to gather. “You lied to me.”
I let my shoulders fall as I sigh loudly. “Yeah. And I’m sorry if that upsets you, but my intentions were good.”
“I feel like a pathetic charity case who can’t pay my own bills, so my boyfriend has to bail me out. I didn’t need a hero, I didn’t need your money. I just wanted you.”
“Aviva, I feel like you’re blowing this out of proportion—”
“I don’t want to see you anymore.”
My mouth gapes open. “Well, now you’re really blowing this out of proportion. Are you fucking serious?”
Tears fall quickly as she takes in a shaky breath. “I can’t be with someone who lies to me and goes behind my back—”
“You act like I’m cheating on you!” I roar, and she stands there, stone-faced. “I paid off some shit to help you get ahead, and you want to break up with me because of that? That’s fucking stupid, and you know it. Take all of my money, Aviva. I want you to have it because you are the most important person in my life. I love you. Take it,” I say, throwing my wallet to her.
She catches it, her eyes practically on fire. “I don’t fucking want it. What part of that don’t you understand?” She throws the wallet back, and I let it hit the ground. She slowly shakes her head as she wipes away her tears. “You lied about this, about your autism—”
“I never lied about my autism. I just didn’t tell you!”
“You hid it from me, just like you did this.”
“For fuck’s sake, Aviva, I withheld information because I didn’t want to upset you. Be real here. I did nothing wrong! Maybe a little shady, but not wrong.”
“No, I am being real. It’s not my fault you don’t understand boundaries—”
“Whoa, wow,” I gasp, my chest tightening. “Thought my autism didn’t matter.”
She presses her lips together. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Well, you fucking said it.”
She looks away. “You know what, I’m gonna walk away.”
“The fuck you are. You’re staying here.”
“No.”
“Yes. We need to fix this.”
She shakes her head. “We can’t. Not tonight. I don’t know if we ever can.”
I take a step toward her, and she backs up. “Get your stubborn head out of your ass and realize that I did this with good intentions. I did this because when we get married, we can start a life with no worries in the world. I don’t fucking need the money, Aviva, I need you.”
“Funny… That’s all I wanted from you. You—nothing else. I would have figured it out.”
“Why? When I can take all your burdens away and we can be happy?” She moves past me, and I try to grab her. “I don’t want you to leave. I want to talk about this.”
“For what? So we can yell and scream at each other while going round and round? You don’t think you’re wrong, and I know you are, so there is nothing else to say.”
She pulls out of my grip and heads for the door. She needs to go. To cool off.
“I have you blocked in.”
She shrugs before taking my keys from the bowl next to the door. “I’ll move it and leave them on the front steps.”
The door slams behind her, and I don’t know what just happened. All these emotions are swirling deep inside me, and soon, I realize they are making me sick. Her words turn over and over again in my head, and I almost don’t believe them. I look at my helmet that is lying there, waiting for me to hide, but I don’t reach for it. I don’t want to hide. I want her to listen to me. I go to the door, pulling it open as she gets out of my truck that she’s parked in the yard.