CHAPTER 5
THERESA

I deserved a damn peace prize.

My restraint at the banquet was herculean.

My father was going on about all sorts of stuff I didn’t care about, and riding home with him only to be footsteps away from Grant was enough to make my head explode. I saw his car still in the driveway, and it took all I had to get in my own car and drive off.

I woke up the next morning and took an extra-long shower. Ike was off to work, and it was the last day he would be staying with me. I dried myself off and slid into a pair of fitted jeans and a top that showed off the size D boobs that had finally shown up my senior year of high school, then put on a bit of makeup to compliment my eyes. I went downstairs and grabbed a casserole dish I’d been meaning to return to Hollis anyway. I thought it made a perfect excuse to go to his place. I would act surprised when I saw Grant, just to sell it. The last thing I needed was for my brother to know I was only there to see his best friend. I’d never hear the end of it.

The dish would get me in the door and give me a glimpse of Grant.

Just a glimpse. That was all I wanted.

I pulled into the driveway and didn’t see Hollis’ car there, but I figured it was probably in the garage. Grant’s car, however, was sitting right where it had been yesterday, the sun bouncing off its spotless wax job.

I knocked on the door and waited for my brother to open. I shuffled from foot to foot, wondering how bad an idea this was. I was dating Ike, and there I was, pining for a look at some guy I had a stupid crush on in high school.

But I mostly needed closure.

I needed to know that my father kicking him out hadn’t hindered the success I knew he would have in life. Even though his car could’ve told me that.

And a silly part of me prayed that he’d look nothing like I remembered. Maybe a couple extra pounds around his once chiseled abs. And, if I was lucky, thinning hair on his head.

I was starting to think that it was a bad idea to be there. I turned around and went to head back to my car when I heard the door open behind me. I whipped back around and smiled, ready to shove the casserole dish at my brother.

But it wasn’t Hollis who stood in front of me, it was Grant.

And he was shirtless.

I fumbled with the glass dish in my hand as my eyes fell to his chest. His wonderfully-chiseled chest that was decorated in tattoos. I couldn't pull my gaze from him. I was mesmerized, standing there like an idiot, my mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out.

He was beautiful, and his magnificence made me sway on my feet.

“I um—brought these for—”

My eyes slowly raked up to his face as I took him in, with his amber brown eyes and his thick brown hair swooped off to the side and perfectly set in place. The sides of his head were shaved, and his arms were bulging with muscles. He’d grown another couple inches since I’d last seen him, now standing over six feet tall and his shoulders were wide and sculpted. I closed my eyes and took a breath.

Holy hell.

I opened my eyes and saw Grant grinning. Shit. What was wrong with me? I looked down at the dish in my hands and shoved it into his body, watching as his hands curled around the offering.

“Just bringing that back to Hollis,” I said, finally finding my voice.

I turned on my heels quickly to make my way to my car, but his voice called out to me.

“You should come in and wait for him. He’ll be back in a little bit.”

My eyes fluttered closed as the tone of his voice danced along my skin. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck tickle with his breath. I heard him take a step toward me, his body heat radiating against my back. I kept my eyes closed, taking in the moment.

It was the closest I’d ever been to him. And I hated myself for loving it.

I nodded, but I didn’t move. I couldn't. I was paralyzed. Frozen in fear and want and lust and embarrassment. I could feel my cheeks tinting with regret. I felt him move as the pulsing of his breath grew closer, and soon his lips were hovering next to my ear.

I shuddered at the sensation.

“Are you coming?” Grant asked, his voice low and manly.

My knees almost buckled at his question.

I wanted to turn around, to push him into the house, and ravage him like I’d dreamed of doing for nearly nine damn years.

But I couldn't.

I had a boyfriend, and none of this was right.

“No,” I said breathlessly.

I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other and walk toward my car. I opened the door and looked up, finding Grant still standing in the doorway. His muscles glistened with beauty, like his car. His abs were separated with thick lines I wanted to trace with my tongue and his hips tapered into a “V” that disappeared below his waistband and pointed the way to the promised land.

I hopped in my car, cranked the engine, and took off like a bat out of hell. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

I pressed my thighs together to try to quell the ache that seeing Grant in the flesh had given me, but the pressure only made things worse. My panties were damp, and my heart was pounding in my ears. I was going to have to stay far away from Hollis’ until Grant was out of town if I didn’t want to look like a love-crazed teenaged idiot in front of him again.

I pulled into the lot and turned off the car, taking a few deep breaths while I tried to settle my racing pulse. I closed my eyes but all I saw behind my lids was Grant’s broad, tattooed chest, and the flood of warmth between my legs started all over again. Dammit, I needed to get ahold of myself.

I climbed out of my car and bolted up the stairs to my place. In my haze to shake Grant from my mind, I didn’t see Ike’s car in front of my apartment. In my want to get upstairs and take a cold shower to calm myself down, I didn’t even notice the door was already unlocked. I strode through the apartment and headed straight for my room, but a voice descended onto my ears.

“Where the hell were you?”

I whipped around and saw Ike standing in the hallway, his eyes raking up and down my form.

“Jesus Ike, you scared the shit out of me!” I said, my hand over my racing heart.

“Why were you expecting someone else?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Uh, no. I was expecting to be alone. Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I asked him.

“I had a break in between clients so I thought I’d stop by and surprise you. Looks like I accomplished that. So where were you?” he asked again.

“I went to go see my brother,” I said.

“No, you didn’t,” Ike said. “Try again.”

I stared at him, wondering just for a minute if he had somehow seen me on the porch with a half-naked Grant. “Yes, I did. I went to my brother’s house to return some dishes.”

“Then why are you dressed up?”

“I’m not. I’m wearing jeans and a shirt for Christ sake.”

“And makeup?”

“What’s wrong with me wearing makeup? I wear makeup every damn day.”

“For me, yes. For work, yes. Not for gallivanting around in public. And why is your shirt so low-cut?”

Annoyed, I put my hand on my hip and stuck my chin out defiantly. “Because I like it that way,” I said.

“Well, I don’t. It makes you look like you're looking for attention.”

“For fuck sake, you’re being ridiculous,” I said, growing angrier by the minute.

“Where were you?” he asked again. “I know you. I’ve known you since we were kids. You don’t get dressed up unless you have a reason.”

“I am not ‘dressed up’. I just went to return some stuff to my brother,” I said again, slowly so he would hear me this time.

Despite my efforts to hold them at bay, tears rose to my eyes. I was tired of the fighting, the accusations, the insinuations; but more than that, I was tired of Ike trying to control me. He hadn’t been like this in the first few years of our relationship, but as of late, he was getting worse and worse by the day. And I was about done with it.

“You wouldn’t dress like this to go see Hollis,” Ike said.

“I’m not dressed like anything! I am wearing jeans and a fucking shirt. I’m not in a miniskirt, or a halter top, or a goddamn bikini. You are being ridiculous,” I said, my voice rising with each word.

Ike stepped forward and put a finger in my face. “I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but it sure as fuck isn’t me.”

I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. “I’m done, Ike. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know why things changed or when exactly, but I’m not some property of yours to be managed. I’m your girlfriend. And if you can’t treat me with the respect I deserve, then I don’t want you around anymore.”

Ike’s eyes narrowed, and his fists balled at his sides. “You think you can do better than me? With that big ass and those fat thighs?” he spat.

I took an involuntary step backward, and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Never in all the time that we had been together had Ike ever commented negatively on my shape. He’d always told me he loved my curves.

My eyes were finally fully open, and I was seeing him for the manipulative asshole he really was. I could see now, that he was not the boy I’d grown to love. He was a miserable, selfish son of a bitch, and I wasn’t going to put up with him anymore.

“Get out,” I said.

“Gladly. I don’t even know what I’m doing with you anymore anyway. I don’t even love you anymore,” he said with a sneer.

“Get out!” I roared.

Ike grabbed his keys and walked out of my apartment. I was shaking with anger, but still, I felt free. It was easier to breathe, and the silence was comforting. Ike and I were financially intertwined, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do about that. I would have to find a cheaper place, closer to work, and disentangle my life from his once and for all.

But even as the tears flowed, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

I was finally free.