I’m just about to push my way inside when yelling from somewhere on this huge property is carried over the night. There’s loud music coming from inside, but it doesn’t mask the sound that’s so damn familiar to me. After all, I’ve been on the receiving end of that particular tone many, many times and it’s not somewhere anyone wants to be.
I try to ignore it. All I have to do is push open the door and head back inside.
She’s not a teenager who needs me to come and rescue her anymore. She’s a grown-ass woman who, hopefully, has her shit together. I’ve been dying to know what happened with her business degree and if she ended up with that store, but I didn’t want to ask. I think if I found out that it didn’t happen for her, I would have been searching for a way to come home and make it happen despite it being important that she achieve it on her own.
Tully’s voice tears through the serenity of the gardens and has my hand falling off the door handle. I’ll just check on her real quick, make sure she’s safe, and then back off. I know Spencer had followed her out, but you never know what’s going on. Perhaps she shooed him away and she’s yelling at someone else, now in need of help.
I start heading around to the back of the property. They have lights all around, but being nearly midnight, it’s not particularly easy to see. Though, navigating this shit is like a walk in the park compared to the things I’ve been through over the past four years.
The back part of the manor has endless manicured lawns with one of those ridiculous hedge mazes that you only ever see in movies or when people have way too much money to figure out what to do with it.
I find Tully almost immediately. The lights from the manor glisten against her golden dress, showcasing exactly where she is on the property. She sits on a bench, similar to the one I’d been on earlier with Spencer standing before her. Though, maybe pacing is a better word for it.
I stand in the shadows and I make my way towards them, ready to jump in and help her out if she needs it, but something tells me that she can handle herself pretty damn well. I know she could in high school and now she’s had a few extra years to perfect it.
“Just…FUCK!” Spencer roars, instantly putting me on edge as he stops pacing to stare down at her. “Did you know he was coming? Have you been hiding this from me?”
Tully throws herself to her feet while crossing her arms over her chest and trying to keep warm on this chilly night. “Are you kidding me? How would I have known that? He literally just showed up out of nowhere this morning. Trust me, I’m just as surprised as you were. But what does it matter anyway? I’m with you now.”
“Really? You could have fooled me,” Spencer scoffs, only managing to piss me off a little more with the way he neglects to realize his woman is shivering. I mean, is it that fucking hard to offer the girl standing two feet in front of you your jacket? “You looked like you had no idea who you were with on that dance floor and you’ve been a mess since you arrived at the ceremony.”
“Seriously?” she yells, throwing her hands up. “What were you expecting? Rivers was a huge part of my life for a very long time and he just showed up after four years. Please, tell me how I’m supposed to be feeling right now and I’ll magically make it happen for you.”
“There’s no need for the sarcasm.”
“Give me a break, Spence. It’s not like this is easy for me.”
“Yeah…nothing ever is with you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I just proposed for the fourth fucking time and I still haven’t gotten your answer, though I guess I won’t be fooled, it’s always ‘no’ when it comes to you.”
The fuck?
“That’s not fair,” Tully shoots back at him. “I’m twenty-fucking-three. I don’t want to be married yet and I told you that when you asked me six months ago and again last year. It’s like you’re not even listening to what I want.”
“What about what I want?” he demands. “There are two people in this relationship, you know? I’m tired of constantly waiting for you to figure out what you want, though to be honest, I don’t think you have a fucking clue what you want. Or maybe you do and you’re just too scared to say it.”
Tully shakes her head. “Don’t. This has nothing to do with him. I agreed to move in with you, didn’t I?”