She looked down at her clasped hands and frowned. He certainly was the king when it came to making her feel bad. “I’m sorry, Tom. I was just hoping to hear from you earlier today, that’s all.”
He sighed heavily. “If you must know, I just barely got out of bed a half hour ago. I worked until six o’clock yesterday morning and slept until three in the afternoon. Then I was up all night with Kevin and I didn’t get to sleep until about four o’clock this morning. That is why I haven’t called or seen you until now.”
Her chest ached with guilt, and she regretted lashing out at him with her hasty tongue. “I’m sorry.” She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his stiff body and kissed him on the lips. “Please forgive me? I just missed being with you last night. Can you blame me? I haven’t been with you all week.”
He didn’t push her away, but neither did he put his arms around her. This action made her heart ache even more.
“I told you the reason. Can’t you remember? It’s my job. It’s just too stressful,” he complained.
The urge to ask him why his job was so stressful was on the tip of her tongue, but she decided not to speak about it. He was already upset with her and she didn’t want to make it worse.
“Yes, I know, and I’m sorry again for not understanding.” Dropping her arms from around his neck, she reached down and grabbed his hands, pulling him over to the couch with her.
She and Brad had put everything back in its original spot last night after the party and had cleaned up really well, but she could see Tom’s nose twitching and his eyes quickly scanning the room. She knew he was going to realize something was different. Worry crept inside of her, twisting her stomach. She’d better say something before he did. Seeing his temper wasn’t something she wanted right now.
“Tom?” Breanna began nervously, wringing her hands in her lap while her heartbeat played a jumping match with the pound growing in her head. “After you called me yesterday at work and canceled our evening, the girls at the office and I decided to get together and have a party, here, at my place.” She tried to smile even though her lips quaked.
His nose stopped twitching, and he swung around and glared at her. “Do your friends happen to wear men’s cologne, too? Don’t you think I would smell a man’s scent in your apartment? Are you trying to cover up your lover’s tracks?”
Oh no, not again.At least once a week, he accused her of cheating on him. However, this time he had reason. “Tom, the only boyfriend I have is you. But you are correct in assuming there were men in the house. In fact, there were quite a few men and women here, and I didn’t even know half of them,” she explained with a forced laugh. “There were at least forty people at the party.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “You had that many people in this apartment?”
She shrugged. “Well, sort of. A lot of them were outside on the lawn, or at the pool.”
“What?” He exploded in rage. “Mrs. Gurrister actually let them in the pool? She has a fit when I go swimming with you, and she knows I’m your boyfriend.”
His eyes were almost black with red veins in the whites of his eyes. She’d never seen him like this before, and she panicked.
“Calm down, Tom. You see, a man at the party charmed Mrs. Gurrister, and she offered the pool to all of us because of him.”
He rolled his eyes. “Mrs. Gurrister? Seriously? You really expect me to believe that?”
Anger grew inside of her, making her headache worse. She hated it when he never believed her. “Do you think I’d lie about it? How else would she let anyone into her pool unless they lived in her apartments?” she snapped back. Sometimes his words and actions crushed her, like now. Times like these, she wondered if he truly loved her at all. “Anyway, it’s all over and done with. You were kept busy last night and so was I,” she defended.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he barked.
Please make him stop,she silently prayed. “It only means that I wanted to do something last night, and since I couldn’t be with the man I love, I thought I would be with my friends.”
He continued to glare, but at least the fire shooting out of his brown eyes dulled slightly. Even his breathing slowed down. “Are you going to have any more parties?”
She sighed. “No. Not unless you’re here.”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you toeverhave a party again. This is where we’re going to live when we are married, and Iwon’thave you destroying the place. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“Good.” His body relaxed and he settled back against the couch. “Now let’s talk about tonight.”
Just as always after they argued, his mood changed as if someone were flipping off a light. A smile stretched across his face when he looked at her.
“I told you I was going to take you out, and I never back down on my promises, so where do you want me to take you?”
Breanna bit her tongue. She didn’t want to point out how many times broken promises scattered in the path of her memories. But she forced herself to look happy, even though she was extremely miserable.
The rest of the night was spent agreeing to everything he said and did – like always. He took her to a Chinese restaurant, which was practically empty. The whole time they were there, he did nothing but insult and put down the food and the service. After dinner, they went to a movie they’d previously seen five different times, and he acted like it was his first. Not only that, but he convinced her to pay for them because he suddenly didn’t have enough money, blaming it on the meal being too expensive. She could have screamed with fury.
When they returned to her apartment, they sat on her couch, but all he wanted to do was watch the television. And once the program started, she was invisible to him. She should be used to this, but it still hurt that he ignored her.
