Violent Things

Bates

“Doyou want to go for a walk or sit down for a little bit?” I asked Holls as we made our way toward the sand.

When she didn’t answer right away, I glanced down at her, then turned my eyes toward the ocean quickly. The way she was working that goddamn popsicle with her lips was starting to make me anxious. But I had a feeling that she knew exactly what she was doing, and if she was attempting to set a mood of sorts, I could only hope that she planned on following through later.

Not that I would force her.

She’d had more than enough of that before me to last her a lifetime. I just missed how it felt to have my dick buried deep inside of her, and there was only so much jerking off I’d be able to keep doing for the rest of my life.

Which is exactly how much time I wanted to have with Hollis. The rest of our lives and eternity.

“Let’s sit,” she suggested.

I nodded as I allowed her to pick a spot for the conversation I knew she didn’t want to have, and was grateful when she settled on a patch of sand not too far away.

I cleared my throat, cracked my neck, and brought my knees up as I finally peeled the top off the Push Pop I bought, then waited as patiently as I could.

Pushing her would cause a complete shut down and then I’d have to spend however long she felt like making me wait to find out who the hell that was.

Hollis rested her head against my shoulder as she quietly watched the waves gently rolling against the shoreline.

Even through all the tedious anger I was feeling, I couldn’t help but feel complete too.

She was everything I never knew I wanted or needed until the night that I met her at that bar.

I still say she took pity on me by allowing me to sit with her and talk. There wasn’t a man in this world that my pretty girl wouldn’t be able to snag, and she chose me above everyone else.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said softly.

“It’s fine,” I replied with a shake of my head.

The silence that fell between us again was starting to agitate me.

It wasn’t Hollis’ fault that I hated seeing her talk to other men. It was a constant fear of mine that she would find someone better, someone that wouldn’t hurt her the way I had, and leave me the second she got the chance to.

Just remember what you’ve got waiting for her at home, and keep your head on straight.

“So…” I let my voice trail off, knowing that she’d pick up on my wanting to get the conversation over with. The only thing I had to wait for now was her willingness to comply.

Pop!

Holls pulled the popsicle out of her mouth with such a resounding sound, that I glanced down curiously at her.

I could see the small smile on her face, but I couldn’t look into her eyes since she wouldn’t look at up me. Instead, she chose to keep her eyes trained on the crashing waves.

And when she took a deep breath, I braced myself.

“He was one of them.”

With an angry grunt, I chucked my Push Pop as far away as I could and got to my feet.

“Why didn’t you tell me when we were there?” I snapped at her.

“Because of that,” she replied dryly.

I took a deep breath and ran both of my hands over my face, before I let them drop to my sides, and tried again.

“Babe, you have to understand that—”