It was clear that day that around his neck, tied to the silver chain, was the first ring I ever made.
Taking advantage of his occupied hands, I reached up to pull the necklace out of his shirt.
Shaking and disoriented, I analyzed the metal.
The same jagged lines.
Identical bumps.
A smallAin one area.
“How,” my voice shook. “How doyouhave this?”
Christian revolted, stepping back, yet kept the umbrella entirely on me. “That’s none of your business.”
I scoffed. “It kind of is when you’re wearing my ring around your neck.”
“I found it.”
“Keep lying to me and see if I believe it.”
His face hardened. “It’s just a fucking ring.”
Rain slapped against the hard concrete floor, yelling in the middle of our heavy pants and blazed gazes. Pissed was an understatement. Confused was an exaggeration because I was baffled—exonerated by his lack of honesty.
“Where did you find it?”
Silence.
That was allI needed to know.
My vision plummeted in blurry waves because Christian scoured through trash to keep it.
“You told me you wanted to love me,” I ignored his narrowed slots and continued. “But all along, you’ve been loving me out of spite. My ring, the hospital, the tents,this. You’ve been dragging me along with our history and confusing me with all your mockery.”
“My love for you isn’t a mockery.”
“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes. “You married me under the ruse of wanting to help me but all along you’ve been making a complete fool out of me.”
A panicked look. “That isn’t true?—”
“Then whatis?” I yelled. “Tell me what is true. Because loving me isn’t, marrying me isn’t?—”
He dropped the umbrella. “Iamyour husband.”
Brutally, I wiped away the first fallen tear. Whether it fell from my eyes or from the sky—I wasn’t sure. What I knew was that both me and the earth were grieving our broken hearts. “It’s temporary.”
His hands fisted against the paper, veins popping out. He stopped himself from reaching out to me when I wanted him to. “You think this istemporary?”
“Our contract states one year, so yes I do think that.” I peeked up at him through wet eyelashes. His muscles tensed beneath his shirt. Each inhale released as a fiery exhale. “It’s not like you woke up one day and decided that loving me was gonna make you happy after making a complete idiot out of me.”
Lethally calm.
“Do you think I’d put this much effort into someone I thought was fuckingtemporary?”
“You use love as a blanket to cover up the feelings you truly feel. You said you wanted to love, not that you did.” I tucked back a couple of wet hair strands. “You can’t just love me again because you want to.”
The scene in front of me felt like deja vu.
