I give him a look that says, “What happened?” He just shakes his head in response as his eyebrows furrow.
“You’re fucking kidding me?!” he shouts, standing from the bed with white knuckles. “I’ll talk to the field manager right now. I can be there first thing tomorrow … No, no. Don’t call Mom and Dad yet. It’ll be okay. I’m coming.” Audrey says a few more things to him. “Okay, I’m glad Selena and Fiona are putting you up tonight. Don’t worry about anything. I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Hurt her? Again?
My jaw clenches.
Did Paul hurt her?
“Yeah, I love you too. One sec.” He extends the phone towards me, watching me.
“Hey, Audrey.” I try to keep my voice even, really wanting to know what’s going on, but trying not to think about the worst case scenario.
Her voice is shaky as she quietly asks, “You used to love me, too. Didn’t you?”
“Yeah, Auddie,” I reply with a gentle tone, meeting her brother's confused eyes, “very much.”
She doesn’t need to know that I never stopped.
Nine: Audrey
Painted Him Perfect - Alexandra Kay
“The first time was a mistake, the second was too … And then I met Micah and we felI in love … And then Vivian needed a shoulder to lean on. I was just being a good friend.”
I repeat one of Paul’s many voicemails in my head over and over again as I pace Selena’s living room, ignoring the lingering pain in my ankle and the ache in my back. She and I both called in sick today. I think she was worried about me being alone with my thoughts, or putting a hole through her floor because I can’t stop pacing.
I don’t blame her. The last twenty-four hours have been nothing short of emotionally exhausting and confusing; first Paul and then Noah.
Biting down on my lip, I exhale. “He used to love me …”
“You deserve better. Seriously, he’s a jerk, Audrey. His dick should get stuck in an elevator door,” Selena offers. She’s spent the better part of the last few hours coming up with ways we can castrate Paul’s “micropenis.”
Right about now, I wouldn’t mind that happening to him.
“Not Paul. I mean, yes, Paul … but did he really? You don’t cheat on someone you love. Right?” I push him out of my thoughts, focusing on bright blue eyes. “I meant Noah.”
Selena’s face breaks out in a giant grin. “Wait, what? Excuse me, back up a second! Noah said he loved you?”
I nod slowly as Selena jumps up and down in front of me, like I just told her we won the lottery.
“Why was this not the first thing you told me?”
Maybe because the guy I thought I loved is a cheating asshole, and my body fucking hurts.
I shake my head, sitting on the couch. “When I called Connor yesterday, Noah picked up the phone …” I proceed to tell her about our conversation.
Selena does a little happy dance. “Ah, this is the moment I’ve been so desperately hoping would come after hearing about him so much over the years! That’s so sweet. Are you hoping he comes with your brother and plays the white knight?”
I shrug, not really sure how to answer that. Part of me wants him to hold me right now, to pick up the pieces, and part of me knows my emotions are too raw and I’d probably do something stupid.
Like asking if he used to love me …
Suddenly, angry fists bangon the front door.
Connor’s here.
Selena opens the door and he doesn’t even stop to greet her. Instead, he races over to me and hugs me against him, taking in the cuts and bruises on my face. “I’m going to fucking kill him,” he mutters as a fresh batch of tears flows down my cheek.
