“You wanna give us some privacy?” the asshole has the nerve to ask.
“I don’t,” I fire back.
Amelia’s eyes are on me. “It’s okay,” she says softly and then looks to him.
My lip curls. “I’ll be on the other side of this door and if I hear anything I don’t like, I’ll –”
“Fuck off, buddy,” the guy beaks off with an annoyed expression on his idiot face.
If he puffed his chest out any more than he’s doing right now, his spine might snap.
I lean forward and growl again.
“Mason.” She sounds panicked. My eyes dart to her face. Fear? She’s pale.
I tell her, “He will not fuck with you, baby. Won’t happen.”
“Can you go inside for me, Mase? Please? It’s okay,” she whispers, hoarsely, “I’ve got this.”
Before I step back inside and close the door, I move to her and press my lips to her forehead. I hear her gulp down a swallow and then turn to go back inside, shutting the door, not even giving him a glance. I make no further moves. I can see everything through the stained-glass windows that flank the door and I’ll hear every word that’s said.
“Who is that guy, Amelia? Tell me you haven’t moved on,” he demands. “Not already.”
“It’s none of your business,” she spits back, “not anymore.”
“But I love you,” he states plainly.
And as much as I don’t know this guy, I know that those words don’t sound remotely sincere. He says it like saying it will get him what he wants.
“I know things have been stressful with the planning of the wedding,” he goes on, “but we’re almost there, almost through it. And full disclosure here, I did drive the other night when I’d had a few but I only had a few and was only at Sheila’s, just a couple streets over and I ran over to talk to her about some wedding stuff since you weren’t returning her messages and it was the backstreets and just a few blocks. Not a car on the road, honey. I’m not proud of it, but I’ll never do it again. Ever.”
“You’re blaming me for your drunk driving because I didn’t return Sheila’s call? Are you for real?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I saw you were home, so I wanted to get to you fast.”
“No. You never do mean it like that, do you? Not when you’re called out on it at least. Right? God, you must really think I’m stupid.”
“Amelia.”
“You fucked the wedding planner? No wonder she hates me. She wants you for herself.”
“It’s not… no. She’s married.”
Liar. It’s written all over him. I smell the lie as plain as I smell the nervous sweat he’s exuding.
He stammers, “I’d never do that, especially not after all you just went through with your folks.”
She shakes her head. “Yeah, it makes total sense that you were there until four in the morning on a weeknight while I wasn’t home.”
“We’re old friends, that’s all.”
“It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. There’s so much wrong with our relationship, Rick. It’s not what I want. And you didn’t even want me, so…”
“I did! I do. We’ll fix it. We’ll go to couples’ counseling. We’ll…”
“Too late.”
“I didn’t fuck around!”
“It doesn’t matter, Rick. And I did, so…”
“Because you thought I did?”
She sighs but doesn’t answer.
“Because if you did this, left me for this guy because you felt neglected, pressured from the wedding and thought I cheated … I … I think we can work on it. I think we can fix it. We’ve both made mistakes, obviously, but we’ll go to counseling. We’ll get past this.”
“It doesn’t matter why; what matters is that it’s too late. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching and we’re not right for one another.”
“What do you mean? We want the same things; you’ve said it yourself.”
“I don’t think we do. I don’t care about the huge wedding, it sounded great in theory but nothing about it is my choice. It’s all what your mother wants. And it’s like I haven’t even had a voice the past few months with anyone and I’m tired of not being seen, not being heard. You never stand up for me.”
“You’re strong. That’s one of the things I love about you. Since when do you need me to fight your battles, Amelia?”
“No, I don’t need anyone to fight my battles, but having my back might be nice at least. I can’t not be seen, Rick. That’s not who I am, I’m not okay with being treated like I’m invisible and don’t even know how I let things get as far as I did when everything inside me was screaming the whole time about it all being wrong. I’m not myself when I’m with you. I’ve become this other person and I’m not a huge fan of her.”
“I’ll try. I’ll try to-”