Obsessed(75)

Aston smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes. I turned and disappeared inside the bathroom, not wanting to watch my cat cheat on me with someone else. Unreal! I slammed the door shut and rested my forehead against it. Shit, he was here for five minutes and he was already getting under my skin. Already finding passage to that spot reserved specifically for him.

I undressed and avoided the mirror. I slipped into the shower stall and turned on the water. I washed myself slowly, all the while listening in on any sounds outside that door. I purposely took a very long time under the water. Part of me hoped he would be gone by the time I finished. Things felt awkward, and I didn’t want to confront that awkwardness because it meant sorting through what happened and why he left me the way he did.

I hated him for it. I reminded myself of that over and over again. You hate him, you hate him, you hate him. Don’t fall for his bullshit. If he cared at all for you, he’d never have abandoned you like that.

I finished a long while later. I tiptoed to the door with the towel wrapped firmly around me. I opened it a tiny bit and peeked out. Aston was still there, his arms crossed, his chin settled on his chest. His eyes were closed and he breathed deeply and steadily. He was fast asleep, and as I opened the door and quietly changed into my pj’s, I felt my heart tug deep inside my chest. He looked so peaceful with his scruffy short beard and hair over his forehead. He must not have slept at all last night.

I found Tuck sleeping against his legs. On a huff, I picked the traitorous ass up and settled him outside my bedroom. “You can sleep on the couch tonight,” I grouchily said. Tuck turned away without another blink and scurried across the house, destroying shit. I closed my bedroom door and crawled under the covers of my bed. The air had a chill to it. I buried my face in the pillow and closed my eyes. I had that many more hours of drunkenness to burn off. I fell asleep before I could even think of anything else.





25.



Elise

“Happy Birthday.” The voice was in my ear, and it came out in a husky whisper. “I never got to say it ‘til now.”

I felt fingers brushing the hair from my face and the warmth of a large body stretched beside me. Confused, I opened my eyes, my heart rate already accelerating as I focused on the body spooning me from behind.

“Aston?” My voice sounded strained. Tears already threatened to spill.

I could smell him all over me. I knew I hated him but…god, I couldn’t push him away if I tried.

“Yeah,” he replied, running a finger down my nose and across the crease of my lips. It was like the past day hadn’t happened, like I hadn’t just ignored him and loathed him so vehemently. I didn’t understand what he was doing here in the first place. What had prompted him to come back all of a sudden?

“What…Why are you here?” I asked him.

“You thought I’d miss your birthday?”

My lips quivered as tears fell from my eyes. “I didn’t think you’d remember,” I admitted.

He sighed, brushing his lips against my ear. “How could I forget? I came back last night hoping to find you here, and you weren’t.”

“Then how’d you find me?”

“I called Cindy and she cursed at me but then said you were acting out so it was best I come get you. By the time I got there, that fuck was over top of you.”

“You were really there?”

He wiped my tears as I lay there, still in a sleep-induced fog. “Yeah, I was. You thought he was howling in pain over nothing. I hit him and I’m fighting my anger real hard right now, El. I’m scared of how much he touched you because I want nothing more than to rip him to pieces.”

“Don’t. He’s been arrested, Aston, and he didn’t touch me like that.”

“But he tried to, right?”

“He did, but…I fought him in the end. He didn’t get anything out of it.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah.”

He let out a long breath. “Okay.”

He continued wiping the tears from under my eyes, and I both ached for his touch and wanted to push it away.

“What are you thinking?” he asked me gently.

I shut my eyes tightly, fighting back all those suppressed emotions since he’d gone, but…I couldn’t.

“I’m so angry at you,” I told him hastily, my voice cracking. “You hurt me so much, Aston. All I wanted was for you to be there, and you weren’t. You left me.”

“Forgive me,” he replied tightly, his voice in distress. “I didn’t mean to be away, El. I just…after everything, I’ve been hurting. The thought of coming back to this place where he was…it kills me.”