Page 53 of Cowboys & Horses

“Because he made me feel like I mattered, Ben. He made me feel like I was the only girl in the world.”

He curled his top lip back in a sneer. “Listen to you. Do you realise how pathetic you sound right now?”

Heat burned through my cheeks. Of course I knew how cliché all of this was, but that wouldn’t change how Brady made me feel.

“You disgust me,” he said, carrying on in his condescending tone. “I can’t even look at you right now without feeling sick. I never would have imagined in a million years that you would have turned into some cheap whore.”

A painful arrow shot right through my heart leaving a venomous sting in its wake. That hurt, really hurt. Despite all the mess we were currently trying to wade through, those words crushed me into a thousand pieces.

“At least I wasn’t laying there wondering if he was picturing my sister.”

I all but spat the words out, each one laced with a potent barb as the turmoil of emotions inside me boiled together in a dangerous mix. Combined with the sheer frustration I was currently trying to hold back, it was no surprise that as I finished my sentence, I gave him a forceful shove away from me.

A sharp crack sounded through the air. Seconds later, my right cheek exploded into a throbbing, searing agony. It took me a good few seconds longer to realise that he’d struck me. Ben had actually laid his hands on me in a way other than as a lover.

Stunned, I didn’t know what to do. Except flee. Instinct told me to run, get away from the source of the danger, the threat, the thing that could damage me even more. I bolted for the door, fumbling with the lock before finally finding my freedom.

This time though, I knew running from Ben wouldn’t result in a car crash or a hospital visit. Everything about this scenario was like déjà vu from when I’d found them in bed together. Except this time, the sound of his voice calling my name wasn’t following my blind run.