“And I told you, we’d deal with shit when I got back. You packed up and left. You made your choice and what has become clear as fucking crystal to me is that it was the wrong one!”
“I…I don’t even know what to say to you right now, Liam.”
“Good, because the time for talking is done. Now, you bend over that fucking desk and you offer me your ass.”
“Offer you my…Liam Maverick, if you come near my ass I’ll gut you!”
“There’s my Ice, so full of fire it could heat the fucking world.”
“I’m not your Ice! I’m not anything to you!”
“You know better. There’s no way in hell you believe that, Ellie.”
“I do! You let me walk away, Liam. You didn’t try to find me, you didn’t call, nothing.”
“Ellie—”
“You dismissed my concerns. You treated me like some weak-brained woman who would wait at home and do as you said. You didn’t care that I was scared, and you sure as hell didn’t care if what you were doing would destroy our relationship!”
“Is that what you’re pissed off about the most, Ellie? Because I didn’t come after your ass?”
“No!”
“Liar,” I growl. I have just enough time to duck before she throws the phone at me.
Yeah, my Ellie is definitely back.EllieI hate him. I hate him for so many things, but most of all right now, I’m afraid he’s right. I mean, it tore my heart out to make the decisions that I had to make—that I felt forced to make. I grieved him and he didn’t call to check on me once. He didn’t try to find me. He’s right, that’s what cuts the most. I was so insignificant that he didn’t try to even call me and yell because I left.
I’ve been stupid. This past week I’ve let him back in, all the while hoping something magical would happen and erase the past two years. It’s not. Nothing is going to change what happened, nothing is going to change Liam.
Or me, apparently.
I’m still the girl in love with a man who takes the law into his own hands. I’m still the girl afraid of what his decisions could mean for our future. Except leaving him just assured that we have no future at all. The worst part is, I’m still here in love with him, but now I’m alone and miserable all the time.
And I am miserable.
I live on coffee and doughnuts. I rarely have a regular meal. I work constantly and it’s not because I’m in desperate need for money, although that part is nice. It’s because staying home alone gives me too much time to think and too much time to regret. I do regret leaving Liam. I had my reasons at the time, but my life now is not the same and I miss my husband.
“Stop overthinking, Ice and just admit it,” he murmurs softly, his voice going a little tender. I close my eyes, feeling defeated.
“You didn’t even call me, Liam. Not once. You let me walk away.”
“I gave you what you wanted, Ellie. At least that’s what I thought I was doing.”
“Then, you need to do it again. There’s too much time between us now and way too much butter in the gravy pan.”
“I have no idea what that means, de-Ellie it for me.”
I roll my eyes, but I fall short of smiling. There’s definitely nothing here to smile about.
“Homemade brown gravy is better with bacon grease, but you have these people that make it with butter. It’s a fine line, too much butter and it loses its taste forever. That’s us.”
“You’re comparing us to a food that is made to clog your arteries and kills you?”
“Breakfast isn’t breakfast without gravy,” I remind him, “But, maybe that’s a good analogy. We were something that tastes great on the tongue, but is overall bad for us.”
“I don’t know much about the horseshit you keep digging in, Ice. But, I do remember how great you did taste on my tongue. Starting every morning with my head buried between your legs was my life’s goal. Fuck, if I don’t miss that.”
“That’s just sex, Liam,” I mumble, ignoring the way his words makes these nervous flutters in my stomach. “I’m sure you had me replaced almost as soon as I walked out the door. God knows, the club girls were all itching to fall on your dick while I was there.”
“I warned you before, not to get that shit twisted in your head, Ellie. You’re the only woman I wanted.”
“You proved that while we were together. I’m saying once I left and wasn’t an issue for you anymore,” I defend, wanting him to know that I never worried about him cheating on me while we were together. He gave me his word and I always believed him. Always. Fury never lied to me. He always laid it out plain and simple. He just never bothered taking me or us into consideration when it mattered most.