Page 7 of SEAL Summer Escape

Bailey raised her eyebrows, her blue eyes sparking.Her knowing gaze slid to the door.“What?Why not?Are you sick or something?”

Taylor stepped into the hallway, pulling the door behind her.After she quietly eased it shut, she met her friend’s gaze, her heart hammering in her chest.“Eric showed up,” she whispered.“He reeked of alcohol—he must’ve been drinking all day long.I don’t even know how he got here—I’m really hoping he didn’t drive over to my place.But I can’t just leave him here all alone.”

Bailey’s gaze landed on the closed door.Her blue eyes tracked back to Taylor.“And you let that asshole in?What’s he doing now?”she whispered furiously.

“Passed out drunk on the sofa.”

“Well, come on.I’ll drop you off at work, and you can crash at my place tonight.He won’t stick around here forever.Just let him sleep it off.And the next time he shows up, don’t open the door.Don’t even go near the door—just call the cops and be done with it.They can arrest him for being drunk in public or something.Maybe a night in jail would sober him up quick.Seriously Taylor—he’s bad news.”

“No,” Taylor said, shaking her head as her ponytail bobbed back and forth.“I can’t leave.He’d be furious if he wakes up and I’m not here.”

“He’s passed out drunk!He won’t remember if you told him you were leaving.Besides, you guys broke up.He shouldn’t even be coming over here at all.Ever.Who cares if he’s mad?He certainly doesn’t have a say in whether or not you go into work.Tell him to fuck off and screw up someone else’s life.”

Taylor let out a sigh.“It’s not that simple.”

“It is.”

Taylor helplessly shrugged.“He always apologizes when he’s sober—says that he needs someone to talk to.I mean, I guess he just hasn’t gotten over things yet.I’m the one that called it off.And his drinking so much might be a cry for help.”

“So what?People break up all the time.People get divorced more quickly than your break up.Go.Get your stuff.You can’t just let him keep controlling your life.Let his friends and his family deal with him.Eric is not your problem anymore.How many days of work have you missed anyway?”

“A lot,” Taylor admitted.“I was sick a few weeks ago, so I missed a couple of shifts then.But now Eric is showing up at my apartment all the time, saying we need to talk again.”

“He’s manipulating you—you know that, right?And I’m worried.He might be passed out drunk now, but what about when he turns into an angry drunk?Or an abusive drunk?You need him gone.You sure as hell don’t need him in your apartment.”

“I know, I know.I just felt like I had to let him stay here.He barged in as soon as I opened the door and—”

“Get your stuff—we can talk on the way there.”

“All right,” Taylor nervously agreed.“Hold the door open for me—I don’t want it to slam shut and wake him up.”

Bailey raised her eyebrows, and Taylor realized how silly she sounded.This washerapartment.She could come and go as she wanted.Slam the door if she wanted.Since when had she let Eric control so many aspects of her life?

She hurried inside to grab her purse, casting one last glance at her ex.

Ten minutes later the girls were breezing down Atlantic Avenue in Bailey’s convertible, heading toward the popular touristy section of Virginia Beach.Bailey slid her sunglasses on, her tiny eyebrow ring gleaming in the sunlight.

Taylor had her ears pierced but nothing else.Eric hadn’t liked piercings or tattoos on women, and she’d wanted to look good for him.He’d instantly shot down her desire to get a small heart tattoo on her hip with her sister’s initials in it.

Tessa had been her best friend.Only a year apart, they’d been inseparable in high school.No one would’ve been able to see the tattoo, save for her and Eric, but he’d insisted he didn’t like them on women, especially on his girlfriend.

Maybe now that they’d broken-up, she’d go to the tattoo parlor.She wasn’t generally into tattoos, and had no desire to get more than one, but something permanent to memorialize her sister called to her.Taylor’s entire life had changed that day her sister’s life had been taken.And the fact that she’d be doing it in defiance to her ex made her even more determined to see it through.She was done with Eric controlling her life.It was time to finally start living hers again.

She’d finally broken up with him a month ago after dating for several years when his drinking and controlling behavior had just gotten to be too much.

Who was she kidding though?

Their relationship had taken a turn for the worse months ago.The writing had been on the wall for everyone but Eric it seemed.

Grabbing her cell phone from her purse to let her manager know she’d be in tonight after all, she saw a text from Mason, one of the military guys who hung out at Anchors all the time.They’d flirted a little, harmlessly, and at one point she’d given him her number.Although they’d texted a bit, now that Eric had been showing up more and more frequently, she’d tried to ease back on the flirty texts.

There’d be no telling what would happen if Eric saw them.

Bailey glanced over at her, her blonde hair streaming in the wind.“What are you smiling about?”she teased as Taylor thumbed a response to Mason on her phone.

“Remember that guy I told you about?The one who comes in with his buddies to Anchors all the time?”

“The Navy SEAL hottie,” Bailey confirmed.

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