Page 27 of All for You

He sneers, and I can smell alcohol from where I stand. It’s almost as though he bathed in it. “I’m here because you thought you could just walk away from everything we built together.”

I almost laugh, yet his words twist inside me like a knife. The only thing Matt ever built was a prison of doubt and fear aroundme. He never laid a finger on me, but the underlying threat became more intolerable day after day.

“We didn’t build anything, Matt. You tore me down.”

“Oh, stop whining.” Matt rolls his eyes before pushing his shoulders back. “I made you better. A better executive assistant, a better girlfriend, a better woman. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have even had your job. And this is how you repay me? By running off to play house with some hick?”

Anger flares hot in my chest. How dare he? After everything he put me through, he still thinks he has the right to judge my choices? His audacity makes me want to scream, but I hold it in. I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose control.

The old Rachel might have cowered, but I plant my feet firmly. “Travis is twice the man you’ll ever be.”

“Travis?” Matt spits the name like it’s poison on his tongue. “You left me for a goddamn cowboy in Poe Dunk, Texas named Travis? Fuck, and look at how you’re dressed. I know your mother taught you about clothing and hair and makeup. Jesus Christ. I guess Travis doesn’t give a rat’s ass if you dress frumpy.”

I shrink under his gaze, for a moment falling back into old patterns. But then I think of Travis, of his quiet strength. It steadies me, reminding me of who I’m becoming—who I want to be. Besides, Travis likes my dress.

“I left you because you’re toxic, Matt. Travis has nothing to do with it.”

Matt’s face contorts with rage. “Don’t you dare try to rewrite our history. You were nothing before me, Rachel. Nothing.”

His words sting, but I refuse to let him see how they affect me. I remind myself that he had nothing to do with me getting that job. I was assigned to his office, that’s it. He took it from there. I was just stupid enough to fall for it.

“You’re wrong. I was everything before you. I just forgot it for a while.”

“Oh, that’s cute. Did your therapist teach you that line? Or was it the cowpoke?”

Behind me, the truck door opens, but I hold up a hand, silently willing Travis to stay put. This is my battle. The door shuts, but I don’t turn to see if he’s in or out of the truck.

Matt glances over my shoulder, confirming for me that Travis did indeed leave the vehicle. “Oh, I get it now. You could only find a ranch hand old enough to be your father. That makes more sense. Old guy like him probably likes his chicks young and naive.”

That’s enough. I’m done with this bullshit. I put my hands on my hips, tip my chin up, and take a confident step forward. “You know what, Matt? I don’t owe you any explanations. You need to leave. Now.”

Matt’s laugh is cold and bitter. “Leave? I just got here, sweetheart. We have lots to catch up on.”

“There’s nothing to catch up on. We’re done.”

“We’re done when I say we’re done.” He moves closer, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. “You think you can just walk away from me, sweetheart? Start over with some small-town nobody?”

The unmistakable sound of boots scraping on asphalt sound behind me. Then I feel the heat of his body warming my back, quieting the quakes that are starting inside.

“Get the hell out of my town, Matt. You’re not welcome here.”

Matt’s face twists with fury. “You ungrateful bitch. After everything I did for you?—”

“That’s it—” Travis starts, his body immediately tensing, but I cut in before he unleashes his rage on Matt.

“You did nothing for me!” The words explode out of my mouth, years of pent-up anger finally finding release. “Youmanipulated me, isolated me, made me doubt myself at every turn. You tried to make me into somebody different because you didn’t like or appreciate me as me. But I’m done letting you, or my mother for that matter, control my life. This is who I am. Get over it.”

“Control your life?” He laughs bitterly. “I gave your life meaning. Without me, you’re just another small-town waitress with delusions of grandeur.”

How the hell does he know that? How the hell did he find me?

His words hit their mark, but I refuse to let him see how much they hurt. “Better a waitress with self-respect than whatever the hell I was with you.”

His nostrils flare. “You think you’re better off now?” He scoffs. “We both know you’ll come crawling back when this old man tires of you and finds some young bar bitch to fuck.” In the shadows cast by the streetlights, Matt’s eyes glint with malice. “You think you’re so fucking strong with him behind you like that, don’t you? The man doesn’t even have the balls to step out from behind your skirts.”

Behind me, Travis growls like an animal, and his arm comes up, but I quickly rest my hand over it, stopping him.

I love that he wants to do battle for me. A surge of strength, fueled by the realization that Matt’s words no longer hold power over me, rolls through me and I feel my chest puff out. “I’m sure Travis is waiting for me to give him the word, Matt. But unlike you, he respects me. He knows this is between you and me.” The evening air is cooling, and it nips at my skin. “Get the hell out of here, Matt. I mean it. I never want to see you again.”

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