“It’s been less than a year. I don’t call that a long time ago,” I tell him with all the sarcasm I can muster. “And you seem to chase anything with boobs now that you’re down there away from prying eyes. Not that that seemed to stop you when we were in high school.”
“Sweetheart…”
“Don’t sweetheart me. What you did…I would never have done and then you had the nerve to call me a whore. You’re the only guy I ever dated. I think you’re the whore in this situation, don’t you?”
“You think I’m a whore?” he asks incredulously.
“A picture’s worth a thousand words,sweetheart, and I counted at least thirty different girls in the photos on Brian’s page. So again, who’s the whore in this situation?”
That insane hurt overwhelms me and I turn away so he won’t see my tears. It’s why I didn’t see him coming, but boy did I feel it.
He grabs my arm and whirls me around and his eyes are wide and bright with anger. The same anger I’d only heard on the phone. I’d never seen it or experienced it in person.
“You’re hurting me, Joe. Let go.”
“No. I’m not a whore. Don’t you ever say that again.”
“Fine, I won’t say it again, just let me go.”
“No, Daisy. One thing we’re going to make clear before I leave this house today is that I am never going to let you go. You and I belong together.”
“We don’t. You cheated on me.”
“Because you made me!” he spits out.
“I made you cheat on me?”
He nods, his eyes growing brighter. He takes both my upper arms in his hands and shakes me so hard, I swear I can hear my teeth rattle.
“You kept yourself from me. Always running here and there, making everyone but me important. And then, you stayed here when you graduated. You were supposed to come to Texas.”
“My Nana is dying. I can’t leave her.”
He sneers. “Always the goody two shoes aren’t you, Daisy?”
“No, but I love my Nana. I wasn’t going to let her go through this alone.”
“You love her more than you love me.”
“Yeah, I do.”
He rears back like I slapped him, momentarily letting me go. I waste no time in backing away from him and putting a good bit of distance between us. The issue is he’s standing between me and the front door, effectively blocking my exit. My only option is to keep going backwards towards the kitchen and the back door.
“You’re lying,” he snarls and comes at me. I turn and run, hoping to reach the back door before he can reach me, but he’s a football star and he’s faster than I am. He catches my hair and yanks me back into him, his arms crushing me when he holds me to him. “Take it back.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, hoping to placate him. “I love you.”
“Tell me you love me more than you do your grandmother.”
I try, I really do, but it’s a lie I won’t tell. The words won’t leave my tongue.
“Bitch,” he growls and twists me around so I’m looking up at him. “Say it!”
“No.”
He slaps me across the face so hard my eyes water. “Don’t make me hurt you, Daisy. Tell me you love me more than anyone else in the world and you belong to me. Tell me!”
I try to knee him, but he sees it coming and twists out of the way. This time, it’s his fist that hits me and I blink away the pain. As shocked as my body is, I try my best to get away, but he only pushes me down and his foot connects with my stomach. Bile rises in my throat and I roll, but his foot follows and he lands a hard kick to my back and sends me rolling faster. Pain bursts to life and I scream. My back hits the recliner and I try to use it to get up, but his hand catches hold of my hair and drags me up, slamming my head over and over against the wall, until I crumble to the floor.
