Page 130 of Cougar

I might’ve been Marcus King’s wife, but I was still a Mackenzie. We were fighters. We were also stubborn, and in that moment, I was too stubborn to admit I was wrong. I was too stubborn to stay and fight for my marriage.

I shrugged out of Marcus’s grasp with a huff and pushed a hand through my tangled hair, doing my best to pull myself together. But I couldn’t fight back the tears. I was so angry, hurt, confused and fucking heartbroken. Turning on my heels, I charged toward the exit, ignoring the looks from the road crew members lingering in the hall.

“Where are you going, Emerson?” he called out to my retreating back. His footsteps sounded behind me.

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re not leaving!” he demanded.

I raised both hands over my head and flipped him the bird. “Watch me.”

A hand wrapped around my arm and I spun around angrily. “Don’t touch me!” I shoved at his chest and he stumbled back. “Go fuck your groupies!” I shoved him again, but that time he didn’t move. I cried harder. I was hysterical, but I wouldn’t let him touch me.

“Emerson.” His voice was sad.

“Let her go, Marcus,” Chandler said from nearby.

“Mind your business, Chandler. This is between me and my wife.”

“Youaremy business, and you’ve made it everyone else’s.” He gestured wildly in the air.

Marcus looked around and noticed that everyone had stopped to watch our very public fight. He frowned. “What?” he yelled. “Haven’t you ever seen a couple argue before?” He threw his hands in the air. “Get back to work.”

“I told you she was too young” came from down the hall. Chaz, the fucking asshole. Even though we’d been married a year, Marcus’s bandmates hadn’t quite warmed up to me. Chaz hated me. I saw it in the way he looked at me.

Marcus twisted around to face his bandmate. “Fuck off, Chaz,” he barked. “No one asked you.”

“You did when you decided to marry her,” Chaz shot back. “And what did I say?”

“Well obviously I don’t care what you think,” Marcus argued, then turned to me. “Go back to the bus and calm down. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes and we’ll talk.”

I wouldn’t be there, but I didn’t want to fight anymore, so I nodded.

I practically sprinted back to the bus, grabbed my purse and suitcase, and was out the door in less than five minutes. There were still a few cabs lingering outside the venue, so I hopped in the back of one and directed the driver to take me to the airport. We were in Miami, and I’d considered renting a car and making the four-hour drive back to Heritage Bay, but again, I was too stubborn to admit to my family that I’d failed, that my marriage was failing and I’d most likely be divorced before the age of twenty. And besides, Elizabeth was still in Heritage Bay. I could only imagine her laughing in my face, telling me I deserved it.

It was late by the time I arrived at MIA. The airport was surprisingly quiet. Unfortunately, there were no direct flights from Miami to California. However, there was a flight out of Miami to Tampa and a connecting flight from Tampa to California departing in forty-five minutes.

Good enough.

I had to hand it to Marcus, though. He was one determined sonofabitch. I felt him before he even sat down.

“How’d you find me?”

“I have my ways.” He shrugged.

I scowled. “It’s against the law to give out a passenger’s information.”

“I took a chance when I booked my flight and asked the ticket agent to seat me next to my wife.”

“So the bus left without you?”

“Without us,” he corrected. “They’re picking us up in Tampa.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I’m sorry, Emerson. I don’t even know how things escalated so quickly, but I don’t want to lose you. When you said you were leaving, it felt like I’d just had the wind knocked out of me. We’re both still learning how to be in a marriage while getting to know each other at the same time. It’s unfair of me to expect you to just settle into my lifestyle and be okay with it. You’re young and a little sheltered. Obviously I have a lot to learn about being a good husband.”

Reaching over, I placed my hand on his arm. “And I have a lot to learn about being a good wife. I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread, and one day you’re gonna wake up and realize you made a mistake.” I brushed the tear from my cheek.

Straightening in his seat, he grabbed my hand and tugged until I stood from my seat. Then he pulled me until I was seated in his lap. “Emerson, how do you not see how in love with you I am? My sun rises and sets with you. That’s why you need to trust me. Trust that I love you enough to do the right thing. Always.”

“I do trust you, Marcus. It’s them I don’t trust.”

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