“Out here.” I gesture.
Her eyebrows furrow and her tone changes. “Why?”
“Because it’s easier.” I sigh, taking my hat off to run my hand through my hair before setting it back down. My nerves are in the sky.
She shuts the door behind her and walks toward me. “It’s cold.”
“Then I’ll make it quick.” I clear my throat. “When you left the other night, it felt like we were done.”
She crosses her arms and looks away from me. “Is that what you want?”
“No, but you stormed out. How was I supposed to feel about that?”
“I don’t know.” She scoffs. “You pissed me off.”
“So? You can’t just walk out. We have to work through it.”
“No, I don’t have the patience to. I’ll just yell and say things I don’t mean,” she says matter-of-factly.
“It’s been three days. We could’ve agreed on a timeout, then came back and talked it out.”
“I’m not a toddler. I’m not taking a timeout. That’s stupid.”
Her stubbornness is stirring up more frustration in me, hinting to me that we arenotgoing to work out. “Call it what you want, but your way of handling a fight isn’t how adult relationships work.”
“How would you even know, you haven’t been in one!” she barks.
I take a breath. It’s the only thing I can do to keep my cool. Unlike her with her arms crossed and the smoke coming out of her ears. “Okay … Lexie,”—I pause to gather my thoughts—“if this is what disagreements with you look like, I don’t want any part of it.”
She scoffs. “Wow.”
“It didn’t have to come to this.”
“Oh, I know. If you had just compromised with me, we’d be great,” she says.
“There’s no compromising when it comes to sex. You either do it or you don’t!”
She doesn’t know what to say. Perhaps she knows I have a point. “This just isn’t working,” I confess finally, even though I don’t want to.
Her jaw hangs open. “You’re going to break up with me over this?”
“We can’t compromise, and besides, we fight way too much, Lex.”
“Says who?” She huffs out annoyed.
I raise my eyebrows. “Me.”
“’Cause you’ve had so many girlfriends to base that off of.” She rolls her eyes, and it strikes a nerve inside me that holding back is nearly impossible.
“You know what, you’re right. I don’t have a ton of experience, but I know one thing.” I take a step closer and focus on keeping my voice steady. “My future wife will not be this hard for me to please. My future wife will love and appreciate me more than you ever could.” I make my exit down the steps toward my truck without looking back.
She curses at me before slamming the front door. I get in my truck and do the same, anger boiling inside me as I take off back home. That could’ve gone better I suppose, but it’s done now. I feel a small weight lift from my chest that has been there since the night we fought.
When I get home, I’m met with Addison on my front porch. I am not in the mood to see or talk to anyone, but I have to push that aside.
“Hey,” I call out, climbing the steps.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?” she asks.
