Page 71 of Forecheck
We’d just rolled off each other after the sweetest, slowest love making, like he’d been trying to convince me with his body that I needed to stay.
“So when are you coming home first?” he asked. “Like next weekend?”
“I’m not sure, honestly. I’m not allowed to have a car there, so it depends on when my parents can come get me, or if I canhitch a ride with Logan. But he’s so busy with his stuff, and so are Mom and Dad, that I don’t think I’ll be home as much as I originally thought.”
“I’ll come get you,” he said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“That’s sweet, Lee,” I said, pressing a kiss to his bare chest. “But I can’t be coming home every weekend.”
“Why the fuck not?”
Shit. That escalated quickly.
“Because I’ll have homework and tests to study for, and once I start making friends, I’m going to want to spend time with them, doing typical college girl stuff.”
“And what about spending time with me?” he asked, rising to stand. It should’ve been comical, the way he towered over me, naked as the day he was born, hands resting petulantly on his hips.
But nothing about his expression was comical. He was practically murderous, his face pinched in rage, eyes stormy.
“You could always come stay with me on the weekends,” I offered, knowing he’d never go for it.
“I’m twenty-five, Berkley. I’m too old to be hanging out in dorm rooms with college kids.”
“But youcould,” I pressed. “If you wanted to spend time with me.”
“Or you could just stay.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
He snorted a derisive laugh, and I sat up, gathering the sheets around my naked torso like armor. “You could, actually. In fact, youshould. You’re not going to survive college, Berk. Maybe that’s not what you want to hear, but deep down, you know I’m right. Your family has spent too long coddling you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Look at you. You’re eighteen and about to go off on your own, but you can’t even take care of yourself. You wouldn’t even be going if your big brother wasn’t on the other side, waiting to shield you from the big scary world. Youneedme. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re back home in less than a year, once again living on Mommy and Daddy’s money. Or crawling back here to me and letting me take care of you like I have been for the last year.”
I’d never forget the disgusted shivers that had rolled across my body with his words. I hated that I’d been so naïve, that I’d let him treat me that way. And then to find out that the whole time he’d been grooming me to be this docile little trophy girlfriend, he’d been showering someone else with the same time and attention? It made me feel cheap, dirty, and used.
When we broke up, I’d vowed never to let another man walk all over me again. It had taken some time to relearn self-sufficiency, but once I’d gotten it back, I held on with an iron grip.
Brent was not Lee; I knew this. But still, I couldn’t help being transported back to that time seven years ago when I was a teenager in love for the first time with a man pulling the strings on my life.
Surprise lined Brent’s face when he pulled open the door to his condo, but it quickly morphed into happiness and excitement.
“Hi, baby,” he said, pulling me inside and right into a hug. His lips found mine a moment later. “Did you like your gifts?”
“About that…” I pushed away and took a deep breath. When I met his eyes again, all blood had drained from his face. “I appreciate it, I really do. And Lexie’s excited, too. But…it’s too much.”
“Too much?”
I curled my fingers into his shirt and pulled him close again. “I don’t need you to buy me gifts or vacations. I only needyou.”
“It’s just my way of showing I care,” he said softly.
I gave him a small smile. “Lexie said the same thing. You remember me telling you about Lee, and the gaslighting and other emotional abuse I suffered.” Brent nodded. “That wasn’t the end of it. He was quite a bit older than me—older than you, even—and for a time, I was financially dependent on him, too. I’d let him shower me with gifts and treat me to fancy dinners, pay for gas in my car. Small things that eventually added up to big things. I was so young and stupid.
“But I’m not that girl anymore, Brent. It’s like having war flashbacks. I can’t leave myself vulnerable to that kind of relationship again.”
Brent’s hands settled on my cheeks, and he titled my face up until I met his eyes. “You know that’s never my intention with you, right? I like giving people gifts, and I want you in Vegas with me. Since I’m going to be busy most of the weekend, I figured it’d be nice if you had a friend there to keep you company. It’s nothing more than that.”
