Page 68 of With Wine Comes War

“Fine, I’m not moving in, the end.”

He threw his head back and laughed and honestly it was a bit unnerving.Is this that control freak shit I was worried about?

“Oh, so it’s that simple now, is it? I don’t think so. You told me you want to spend your life with me…”

I interrupted. “That was drunk me that said that. She says a lot of stupid shit.” I tried to get out of his grasp, but he was holding me tightly and I was starting to sweat with nervous energy.

He had his arms wrapped around my waist and was looking right into my eyes. He started over, but this time spoke slower with a much deeper tone of voice that was almost hypnotic.

“You told me you wanted to spend your life with me and that if you tried to run away, I should chase you. This is me chasing you.”

Oh my God, I did say that!

Now I don’t know how to get out of this because it is what I want, but I don’t think I can handle it. If he keeps pushing, it’s going to freak me out, and I can see myself doing something stupid. I took a long deep breath to think for a minute on how to get out of this.

The aha moment I needed. It’s the perfect time to talk about last night and find out if he has anger issues because I am not staying with him if that’s the case. “Ok, but before I make a decision like that, I need to know something…” I looked back into his eyes, and I got the feeling he knew where this was going and his grip on me loosened.

“So, ask.” He insisted as his jaw ticked, and his eyes narrowed.

“What happened to you last night? I mean, what the hell happened to you last night?”

He didn’t just loosen his hold on me, he let me go and dropped his arms to his side. I watched him as he walked over to the sofa, sat down and put his head down, running his hands through his hair back and forth.

“I told you I had other things to work on.” he wasn’t looking at me as he said that, and his hands were on his head gripping his hair tight.

“Yes, you did say that. Is that one of those things and if so, what exactly is it that you have to work on?” I carefully sat down next to him, fully expecting him to get up and move. I could feel the tension pouring out of him. This must be a big deal for him. I’ve never seen him like this before.

He patted me on the thigh and sat up with a halfhearted chuckle. “Wasn’t it obvious?” I don’t think he wants to come right out and name it so I will…

“Anger issues?” He nodded slowly and I realized I got it right but is that all?

“Among other things, yes,” he said, leaning back to stretch out. It looked like he was trying to warm me up to tell me more. “I’m not really sure when it started. I was pretty young— got into a lot of fights. As I got older, as you can imagine, I worked with my mother to control the issue, but it never fully went away. It still rears its ugly head from time to time.” I felt a sense of insecurity now wondering if he meantthat it popped up randomly and I could be in danger of being on the wrong end of his fury.

“Does it just happen for no reason? I mean, should I be worried?” He laughed lightly, running his hands over his face.

“No, you’re not in any danger from me…” His voice trailed off and I immediately felt like there was more to it than that.

“But…”

“But…” He hesitated, reaching out to rub my back gently, maybe letting me know he’s in control right now and I don’t have to worry, except I am worried and that’s actually a problem. “I don’t like people messing with you or trying to get between us.”

“What does that mean?” Is it just jealousy?

“It means people like Luke and Tanner will always be on my shit list and I will have to try really hard to control how I react around them.”

“Like, last night.”

“Yes, like last night. I’m sure I scared you but unfortunately, I already had it in my head that I hated your ex-husband after talking to your brother and the little bit you told me.”

I smiled because I felt the same way about my ex-husband and if he knew the way I felt about Tanner I’m sure his blood would boil. “I can’t say that I blame you for what happened with my ex. He’s had that coming from a lot of people. I wish it hadn’t been you though.”

“Alex, you have to understand, from the moment I met you, I’ve been protective as hell where you’re concerned.” The pained expression on his face reminded me of the day he brought that beautiful bouquet of flowers over and I ruined the moment by asking if he got them for my grave.

“Yes, maybe overprotective, wouldn’t you say? Do you think I need to be protected like that?” I wanted to find out if he really did think I was a damsel in distress because I am no princess that needs saving.

“It doesn’t matter what I think. It doesn’t matter that you take training classes to defend yourself. It doesn’t even matter that youcandefend yourself. It only matters, in my mind, how I feel about you needing to. I don’t like it, and I will always do everything in my power to make sure you don’t have to.”

Oh shit, will this work? Will he really lock me up and throw away the key?

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