Page 10 of Running from Drac

“It’s okay. It didn’t cost me much anyways.” He shrugs his shoulders and nudges me even closer to the bed.

He seriously doesn’t care that I lost my engagement ring? What is wrong with him?

“Let’s get these clothes off. I want to fuck you till you can’t move. That way you’ll never leave me again.” He tears at my shirt, fumbling with each of the buttons on my flannel until my bra is completely exposed, and a handful of my breast is resting in his palm. Soft kisses bumble down my neck as he tries to coax me further. He drank so much that each kiss is peppered with the lingering scent of alcohol. When he starts to unbutton my jeans, I panic.

Pushing him away, I take a step toward the vanity, afraid of what he will say when I reveal my dirty little secret. There’s no way I can continue this without coming clean. The stain of my sins is crawling over every part of me, and my conscience is far mightier than my need for sex.

“W—We need to talk,” I stutter out, unable to stop the shakes or tears from starting.

“Can it wait? I haven’t seen you in four days.”

Shaking my head, I desperately paw at the tears forming over my eyes, trying to keep composed when I’m shattering apart beneath my skin. My heart’s already breaking, and that’s just from the confusion I see in his eyes.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

I shake my head again, placing a hand between us so he can’t come any closer, unable to form the words my mouth is refusing to speak, as they befuddle my brain.

“I’m so sorry, Eddie.” I wish I had a bucket to catch these tears of guilt that are leaking down my face in streams.

He looks concerned, but at the same time, there’s a strange anger radiating in his eyes, like he already knows what I’m going to say before I have a chance to get it out.

“Is it about losing your engagement ring? We can get you another one, Amber. It’s no big deal. I spent fifty bucks onit atWal-Mart.” This small admission is like a bullet to my heart. I know the ring looked cheap, but to actually admit he couldn’t spend more than fifty bucks on an engagement ring is only confirming how much of a cheap ass he really is. Not that Eddie spends his money in the first place. As far as I know, the man saves practically every dime he has. For what, I have no fucking clue. But I’m the one who usually pays for dates. I’m the one who buys groceries and cooks for him all the time. Hell, the man is in his twenties and still living with his parents. If that doesn’t tell you how cheap he is, nothing will.

Staring down at my empty finger, I can’t help but realize I own video games that cost more than that damn ring.

“No, it’s not about the ring,” I grumble.

“Then what’s wrong?” he asks. Even though I can smell the soap on his hands, they still look like they’re coated with oil. Behind his fingernails are over a week’s worth of car grease, and his palms look like they have been scrubbed with black sandpaper. He runs it through my hair getting tangled in a set of blonde curls. “Tell me what’s going on, Baby.”

“I’m not sure how to tell you this…”

His brow furrows as his smile twitches straight, his jaw set and locked for a fight. I’ve seen him like this before, and I know what’s to follow, but I have to tell him the truth. There’s no way I’d be able to live in the sea of lies I’d be constantly treading, if I don’t come clean and tell him what happened in Vegas.

Hesitating, I blow out a frustrated breath before taking another step backward, so I at least feel somewhat safe. “You may want to sit down to hear this.”

He cautiously sits on the edge of the bed, the love in his eyes already dwindling.

This is not going to be good. Not at all.

“Look, Eddie, I love you. I need you to know that first and foremost…”

“I love you too, Amber—”

I cut him off just like he cut off me. It’s almost like he doesn’t want me to say what I’m about to say.

“Just listen, please. I need to be honest with you. I couldn’t live with myself if I wasn’t. I should pretext this by saying I didn’t go to Vegas with ulterior motives, I just wanted to have some fun with my best friends for a few days and not have you breathing down my neck all the time.”

“I don’t breathe down your neck, Amber—”

“Eddie, stop cutting me off and just listen, please. This is fucking important.”

He crosses his arms, remaining silent.

“I seriously don’t know what happened last night.”

His eyebrows arch as his hands drop to his sides.

“Go on.”