Page 5 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. One (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #1)
Wren
Adam comes home the next day but refuses to tell me where he went. I texted Chloe and Rachel, but as far as they’re aware, Adam didn’t stay with either of their respective boyfriends.
For the next week, things in our apartment are tense. Adam barely talks to me, and he only comes to bed after I’ve fallen asleep. Whenever I try to start a conversation to fix things, he silently gets up and leaves the room. I even apologize for turning him down even though it wasn’t out of malice, but it’s pointless.
It feels like I’m unwelcome in my own home, even though I pay half our expenses and my name is on the lease. Work becomes a haven. I’d rather deal with the rudest customer than Adam’s silent treatment. But the hurt lingers, even when I’m at my most distracted.
On Friday, Ava must be fed up with my low mood because she corners me near the drive-thru window. The lane is clear, and it’s slower this morning than usual, so we have a second to breathe.
“What’s going on?” she asks, arms crossed and eyes filled with determination. “You’re acting like I did when Lizzie and I broke up.”
“Adam and I had a fight, that’s all. I’ll be fine.” I keep my voice low, matching her tone. Neither of us want customers to overhear this.
Ava’s shoulders sag. “Not again.” She doesn’t sound annoyed, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she is. Adam and I have been having a lot of issues lately. “When? Is this why you’ve been so down all week?”
“It was after we saw that movie last weekend. I just… haven’t wanted to talk about it. It was pretty rough.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted sex, and I said no.”
Ava freezes, watching me warily but not saying anything. She knows how he can get sometimes, and no doubt she’s worried that it’s finally escalated. In a way, it has.
“He got mad. More upset than usual. And then he stormed out and spent the night someplace else.”
“Like… with a friend?” she asks cautiously.
I’ve shed enough tears over this, but apparently there are more because my vision blurs up. “He—” My voice threatens to break, so I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nervous system. “He won’t tell me.”
“That motherfucker,” Ava mutters under her breath. “Babe, I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have to put up with this shit.”
“I just… I can’t do it. It feels like a betrayal to myself if I say yes when all he’s doing is slowly breaking my heart.”
The tears fall onto my cheeks, and when Ava sees them, she thumbs them away gently. “You don’t have to justify your feelings, Wren. Definitely not to me, but you shouldn’t have to where Adam is concerned, either.”
“I know—I know you think I should break up with him. But I’m just not ready to.”
She grimaces but holds her tongue. I know what she’s thinking, anyway.
“I’m not in denial.” I sniffle. “I know he probably…”
But I can’t say it—can’t say that he probably got fed up with me saying no to him for months and finally cheated.
“Maybe there’s a little denial,” she says gently.
With a stifled sob, I nod. It’s stupid. I’m stupid. But there’s a part of me that hopes he just doesn’t want to tell me where he went so I think he cheated when he didn’t. Some game of manipulation to force me into realizing that he’s reaching the end of his patience with me. It’s awful and toxic—Ava would probably call it abusive—but it at least feels a little better.
“He’s been giving me the silent treatment all week,” I whisper. “I hate being at home.”
Ava gives me a sad look as I brush away my tears. I can’t throw a pity party at work. My boss is nice, but if she finds out I made customers uncomfortable by crying up front, she’ll kill me.
And, of course, this is the exact moment a new wave of customers step into the shop. No, not a new wave. It’s the three men who’ve started coming in weekly. Two of them—Elliot and Oliver—head straight for the bathroom, but Rhett hangs out near the counter, typing on his phone.
“Do you need a place to stay?” Ava asks me quietly, but I notice the way Rhett’s hands still out of the corner of my eye.
Shit. He definitely heard that.
“I’ll be fine,” I say back, allowing myself one last sniffle. “We’ll work through it.”
“Wren—”
“No!” I hiss. “I’m not doing to him what he did to me. I’m not that type of person.”
With a sigh, Ava backs off. “Sometimes, I think it’s to your detriment.”