“Out!”
He raises his hands in a defensive gesture and waves to Riley before finally leaving my apartment.
I go to the kitchenette to put on the kettle and make some coffee. I pour two cups and walk back to her, still stuck in the doorway. I hand one to her, and after looking at it for a few seconds, she decides to accept it, thanking me with a nod of her head.
I point to the sofa, and she takes a minute to determine if it’s safe. She sits on the edge as if she’s preparing to make a run for it at the first opportunity.
“I’ll get right to the point,” she begins, her voice highly controlled and overly confident, but her shaky hands holding the cup betray her.
I rest my hips against the counter behind me because I don’t think my legs are able to hold me up.
She’s been here for two minutes, and I already feel like I’m suffocating.
“Try to stay away from me.”
“What the hell…?”
“I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to deal with you, and I don’t want to have you around.”
“And what should I do?”
“I certainly can’t stop you from seeing Jamie, but when you’re both out of the centre…”
“You’re telling me not to come round?”
She nods.
“You’re…you’re…you’re pathetic, Riley.”
My pride and my stupidity speak for me.
“Of course.” She stands up and comes closer, resting her cup on the counter next to me. “I should have expected it.”
“What?”
“That you’d react like a bastard, Ian O’Connor,” she says, showering me with her resentment, which triggers mine as well.
She goes over to the door, but I can’t let her just show up here like nothing happened, insult me, and then walk away.
She can’t do whatever the hell she pleases with me.
I follow her and grab her arm to stop her from leaving.
I squeeze it.
Hard.
My fingers make an impression on her skin. I make her turn to me and hold my face right up to hers.
I’m angry, furious.
Hurt.
“I am a fucking bastard,” I enunciate each word with rage, looking her in the eyes, but when I recognise the terror in hers, I release my grip on her arm, realising what I was doing.
She takes advantage of my confusion to back away in fear towards the door, massaging the spot where I grabbed her with her fingers. Before she’s able to lift it, my hand slams down on the metal.
“You shouldn’t have come here. It was a mistake.”
