“What have I done that is stupid or dangerous? I work in a flower shop, I do the arrangements for fancy weddings, and then I go home to eat with my brothers.”
“You backtalk, for starters! You never used to shout back. You thought we were the masters of the damn universe, but now you have thug friends and commando guard dogs. It’s like I don’t even know you.”
“Oh my gosh! Thug friends and commandos? Are you serious right now? They’re clients who got married literally yesterday. They had two babies today, and invited me along to say hello. They’re not my friends. They’re not going to call me next week for coffee and a Snickers bar. I will still be sitting at your stupid house, eating avocado and salmon, because they’reoh so goodfor me, and then I’ll go home and find Beck on my front step. Or Nix. Or Corey. Or, if I’m really lucky, Troy will come home, and I’ll enjoy the smothering for a minute. Nothing is spiraling out of your control!”
“You are sick, Abigail.” He leans in close with bared teeth so my heart skitters to a stop. He’s like a feral dog, and I’m about to lose my face. “You are sick, you are fragile, and if you’re not going to follow the rules, then I’ll smother you until you do.”
“I’m not sick anymore, Mitch.” I grab his hand and squeeze. Thankfully, my angry tears rarely come out to embarrass me when I’m angry at my brothers. Just everyone else. “Am I supposed to be afraid every day for the rest of my life? Am I supposed to waste my second chance, become a cat lady, and live in the dark until I’m finally gone? Why are you so set on keeping me locked up,” I whisper, “when you should be encouraging me to skydive, or swim with sharks, or travel the world, or raise alpacas? I should be living hard! I should be making it count. But you’d rather I melt into your couch and not move again.”
“I’m calling Mom.”
I stand in shock as my six-foot-three and two-twenty brother turns away with the world’s most childish threat.
He tugs his hand from mine and pulls his phone from his pocket. “You need to be straightened out, Abby. So if this is what needs to happen, then this is what will happen.”
“Ugh. Grow up, Mitchell!”
He storms away from me, down the hall and through a set of electrical doors. My brother has access to parts of this hospital that I don’t, so he beeps his way through doors I never could, then lifts his phone to his ear to tattle to our Mom.
I groan and flop back against the wall. Then I push a hand up into my hair and groan again, because I’m sick of having this same discussion over and over again.
Why does it have to be so hard?
“Abigail?”
I jump into the air and squeal like those killer clowns are really coming for me. Spinning, I bring my handbag forward as though to use it as a weapon, but then my squeals turn to a growl when Spencer steps around the corner.
It’s like even two minutes apart makes me forget how big he is. In my mind, I can bring him back down to reasonable height, but the moment we’re in the same space again, I have to bend my neck further than I remember. I have to step back, just so I can see all of him. It’s disconcerting, because it’s not like I wasn’t raised in a home of giants. It’s not like I’m not constantly surrounded by large men.
But Spencer is something else. Maybe it’s the way his shoulders always stretch his shirts, or how he looked painfully uncomfortable in a suit jacket at the wedding… like a hunchback, because no matter what size suit he buys, none will ever feel good.
Or maybe I’ve already romanticized him in my head, because he’ll always be the man that made me orgasm for the first time. And he did it twice in one night.
“I’m sorry,” he grunts. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He stops in front of me in the exact spot Mitchell was standing a moment ago. But closer. “Who were you shouting at?”
My heart doesn’t slow, despite knowing there are no killer clowns nearby. If anything, Spencer’s close proximity and dark eyes make it race faster.
“Um… What did you hear?”
“I heard you tell your brother to grow up… loudly.” His lips pull into a tiny grin as he leans back and looks up and down the hall. “But he ain’t here, so now I’m confused.”
“He was here.” I wave an arm toward the now closed double doors. “He went that way. Had to make a phone call or something. Why did you do that in Jess’ room?” I find my anger beneath the fear. I let it pulse to the top and spew out just like it did with Mitchell. “Why did you come charging at my brother like you think it’s your business?”
“It is my business.” He steps forward so our toes touch and his aftershave fills my lungs. “I saw you with a guy, he grabbed you, I reacted. It’s my job to take care of you.”
“No, it’s not! You do not have a job when it comes to me. The wedding is over, the flowers will soon wilt and die. We,” I dramatically point between his chest and mine, “will likely never see each other again. We never met before Jess came into my shop. She won’t be back again, so you have no reason to come back.”
“I was in there an hour ago,” he rumbles. “You weren’t there.”
“I know I wasn’t there! I was here. And before that, I was eating with my brothers, because that’s what we do. We’re a family of codependent adults that have no clue how to adult without each other. You need to back away from me. Literally.” I push against his chest, but gain absolutely no space. “And figuratively. My life is none of your business.”
“But it is, Priss.” Smiling in that cruel way he does, he lifts his right hand with exaggerated slowness so goosebumps race along my skin faster than his hand. He slides the tips of his fingers over my forearm, over the back of my elbow, over my bicep, and then up to my collarbone. He doesn’t stop until his large hand cups my neck, and then he presses his fingertips to my bottom lip and chuckles when I shiver.
I’m desperate to lick my lips, because suddenly they’re desert dry, and I might die if I don’t, but that would mean getting closer to his fingers, and I might die if I do that too.
“Taste, Abigail. You know you want to.”
“Absolutely not.” I try to step back, only to grunt when I hit the wall and have nowhere else to go. “You need to back away from me.”