AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The hell it doesn’t! Do you think I didn’t hear the voicemails?” She’s yelling, but he keeps his voice low and calculated.
“Elizabeth left, and I got upset.” He shrugs, making it all seem so simple. As if it excuses the things he said on my phone. It doesn't, I know it doesn't, but right now my anxiety has me paralyzed. I can’t move, can’t speak. I just watch as the two of them go back and forth. Not even listening to what they’re saying anymore.
“Liza?”
My trance breaks, and I look at Jett. I don't know what he's asking though, so I don't give him an answer. Pivoting my eyes to Blake, I find her looking at me, too. “I don’t want you to talk to this dipshit alone. He doesn’t deserve to look at you, let alone speak to you.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. She overreacted.” Jett thrusts his hand toward me. The veins in his neck bulge almost as much as his eyes. He hates being challenged, which is exactly what Blake is doing. It's what she always does. Unlike me, she doesn't lay down and take anything.
“You’re kidding, right? You treat her like shit and she finally had enough. Leaving you yesterday was the best thing she's done.” Blake’s eyes are crazed. Her feisty side is fully unleashed.
“You’ve never even liked me. You’re just using this as an easy excuse to break us a part and I won't stand for it, Blake.”
“Aren't we already broken up?” My voice startles all three of us.
“What are you talking about, Liza?” Jett’s tone turns honey sweet, but his eyes stay pointed. It reminds me of my father when he would try to win my mom back over. It never took much. She loves attention — good, bad, or ugly.
“I left yesterday. And you left me nasty voicemails.”
“Love.” He takes a step towards me and I stay frozen in place. “We both did things we didn’t mean. I just want to talk it out. I want to fix this.” The voicemails are still replaying in my head, but I’ve spent the last five years with the man. We both deserve closure.
“You cannot seriously be considering this, Libby!” Blake takes a few steps until she is in front of me.
“I…” my eyes settle on the ground before continuing. “I’ll be okay, B. Just give me an hour to talk to him.”
She lets out an exaggerated laugh. “You owe him nothing! You were a mess last night just because he proposed to you. Clearly, this isn’t healthy.” I know it's not. But neither is running away all the time. If I'm ever going to beat my demons, I need to face them head on.
“Liza, is that true?” Jett cocks an eyebrow like it's hard to believe that I could have such emotion. And it makes sense. I've always suppressed them in front of him. There's no reason to stir the pot when I know how easily the pot boils over.
“You think I would make that up? Are you always so oblivious to her?” Blake is the only person I feel I can be myself around. She gets parts of me that nobody else has been privy to. And even then, I still keep certain things from her. Like my anxiety. And the way Jett acts when he gets mad. She's not an idiot, though. She knows things aren't great and that he has an anger problem. But she doesn't know that he likes to shove when his anger gets to a certain point. She'd kill me if she knew I was with a man that resembled my father in any way. But Jett isn't as bad as him. My dad would wail on my mom every day of the week. Black eyes, broken bones, you name it. I can take a shove to the shoulder.
“She’s been just fine during our entire relationship. If she doesn’t seem that way when she’s with you, it’s not my fault,” Jett says. That's another one of his favorite lines. He does nothing wrong, and you can't convince him otherwise.
“The hell it isn’t!” Blake is drawing attention. I need to get out of this situation as fast as possible. I've had enough of people watching my like a damn zoo animal the last two days.
“Blake, I’ll only be gone an hour.” She's pissed, but it doesn't negate what needs to happen. I look to Jett. “Will you give me a ride back to Blake’s when we are done?”
“Of course.”
“Then it’s settled.” I wrap my arms around my friend. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” She sighs, releasing the hug and glaring at Jett, before walking back towards her apartment.
“My car is just over here.” Jett motions towards a line of vehicles. I nod and follow him towards the sedan.
I sit my purse on the counter and turn around, crossing my arms over my chest. My heart hasn't stopped racing since the moment I left Blake. I just want to get this over with.
“Where have you been?” Jett’s voice is calm and even, but his eyes are accusatory. I need to be careful how I talk to him. The ice is obviously very thin.
“I stayed the night at Blake’s,” I almost whisper, feeling my confidence slip. That's the effect Jett has on me. He's smoothe, too smoothe, and manipulative. He makes you question everything until you think you're crazy, and have no choice but to trust him.
He shakes his head. “That's it? You ran off on me and just went to Blake’s? Nowhere else? Did you see anyone else while you dropped off the face of the earth?” He raises his voice, but he remains composed.
“Blake found me and wanted to help. It was an exhausting day, and I just needed some sleep.” My heartbeat begins to throb in my neck. A telltale sign that an attack is at bay. Come on, Libby. Keep it together.
I see the shift in his mood as soon as it happens.
“Oh, so Blake wants you to do something, and you do it willingly? What about me, Elizabeth? I wanted you to marry me, but that didn’t seem to matter much to you.” The veins in his forehead bulge. “You’re damn right it was a long day. You made sure of that. But where was my girlfriend at the end of my long day? Apparently with her little friend, because that’s what she wanted. Who fucking cares what I want, huh?”
He’s inches away from me at this point. And for the first time since knowing him, I'm uncomfortable in his presence. I've dealt with Jett pissed off more time than I can count. But this time in different. I can feel it in my bones. Bile rises in my throat and I try to swallow past it, but it doesn’t help.
