Page 6 of Risky Taste
***
“Noah, working late again? I thought you said—”
I stumble into the house, plopping my bag down on the kitchen table with a heavy sigh. I still don’t understand how we have gotten to this point, the point where Heath has stopped listening to me. We have fallen apart as I buried myself in my work to avoid the growing issues. He found comfort in someone else and I tried to pretend it wasn’t happening because I wanted the stability he occasionally provided when I returned home.
“I want a divorce.” I slip off my ring and place it on the table to punctuate my point.
He chuckles. “That’s it? You’re done with me? You didn’t have to take it this far. We’re good together.”
I shake my head, refusing to fall back into that frame of mind. “No, we’ve never been good, Heath. Your need to degrade me so that you can feel better disregards what I need. You don’t like my profession or my brother’s. You shit on our work. You tell me to quit. You tell me that I would be better off working in a real hospital or an office, but you fail to see how all that hurts me. Even now, you still don’t get it.”
A laugh escapes him as he rounds the table. I step out of reach, a move he locks on. “Noah, you work all the goddamn time. We barely see each other. What else was I supposed to do?”
I bite my lip, trying to calm my raging emotions, but the words slip from my lips anyway. “Literally anything other than letting me find you balls deep in another man at a restaurant that you invited me to for our anniversary. Did you want me to see you like that? Was that a sign? I still don’t fucking understand why you thought I would be okay with that. It’s like ever since Kurt left, you’ve enjoyed hacking away at my pride.”
Another laugh. Heath pushes toward me, thrusting me up against the wall. His hand wraps around my neck, a move that I am more than familiar with. “Hacking away at your pride? Noah, when’s the last time you let me fucking touch you? Huh? The last time you kissed me? The last time you said you loved me?”
A sob bursts from my throat as I hold onto his wrist, trying to loosen his grip. “You don’t love me,” I spit. “You love the idea of having someone that looks like me at home, but I’m not going to submit to you. I won’t sit here and give up everything I’ve fucking worked for because it suits your life, Heath.” He releases me, and I gasp for air. “We’re done. Sign the fucking divorce papers when you get them.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It will be when I tell the judge just what you get up to when we’re alone, not to mention the three men you’re currently seeing, one of which is a patient of mine. Heath, I want you out of my house, and I need those papers signed.”
He grunts, grabs his coat, and stomps through the front door. “You’ll be groveling at my feet soon enough, Noah.”
***
I’ve never once groveled since we separated. I still have the damn ring tucked into my desk because he refuses to keep it. I’ve dropped it off more than once, mailed it back to him and it turns back up at my house every time. I’ll eventually pawn it off when I get the time and my head isn’t such a mess.
“Not sure why I ever married that stupid fuck,” I mutter to myself as I swirl the empty glass again. I’m not the same man I was three years ago. My words are still as sharp but I’m done taking his shit. However, his advances are slowly wearing me down—not that I want to get back with him, just that I’m tired of constantly fighting him everywhere I turn.
“Hey.”
An undignified grunt leaves me as I look up to see Logan a few inches from me. He’s just as gorgeous as I remember, royal blue eyes meeting mine. He’s definitely more ripped, a few inches taller, and the veins rippling down his arms and into his hands have me thinking thoughts I have no business entertaining. “What are you doing up here?” I finally ask and then soften my tone, looking him over to see if he has wounds I need to look at. “Did you need help? I—”
“No, your brother said to call you for dinner, and I remember you don’t like loud noises.”
My nose scrunches up because very few people know that and it isn’t information that Kurt or I offer up. One stint overseasand loud sounds send me into a tizzy. I haven’t had an incident since I came back, but I am always careful, holding myself up in places that I know won’t exacerbate the issue. Even though we attended the same college, I haven’t spoken to Logan since the morning I woke up in his bed and my brother almost caught us. “How would you know that? It doesn’t matter. I’m not hungry.” I’m really not.
Logan steps forward, crouching before me. “I get it.”
“With all due respect, you don’t.”
His eyes follow mine, trying to read my expression. I feel like I am going to suffocate, trying to remember to breathe and at the same time trying not to break down in front of this beautiful man. Strong arms yank me to my feet and pull me into a tight hug. Instinctively, I bury my head in his chest, fingers gathering at the edge of his shirt by his waist.
“It’s alright to break down, Noah.”
His words are so very sweet and yet so fucking dangerous. “You don’t even know me.”Not anymore.
“And yet I know what it looks like when you lose someone, but giving in is never the answer.” He releases me, caressing the side of my face, a small smile on his lips. “Do you trust me?”
“I don’t know you,” I mutter again.
“As you keep saying. But Noah, we both know that’s a bit of a lie, right?” He steps closer, his voice a low purr settling in the pit of my stomach. My nostrils flare as I try to keep my expression neutral, Logan’s gaze dropping to the empty glass in my hand. “Even if it wasn’t, trust that I’m going to do what’s best for you.”
My breath catches before a frown takes over my face. “Because I’m Kurt’s little brother?” The words sound so hateful leaving my tongue but I can’t take them back.
Logan barely reacts, slowly dislodging the glass from my hand, his fingers brushing against mine. “No. Because you’re you. It might have only been a night or two but it’s one I’ve neverforgotten, one that constantly replays in my head. Moments I wish we would repeat. We might not have been here for the past few years but that doesn’t mean I didn’t pick up on a few things. Like the absence of a certain businessman or the way you keep avoiding my eyes or this.” He holds up the glass.
