Page 101 of Striking Range

Fuck! Whatever happened to tenant privacy?!

I square my shoulders, trembling as I command, “Get out. I’ve changed the locks for a reason, haven’t I? Take a hint, Everett.”

“Take a hint?” he sneers. “Unbelievable! What has gotten into you? Why are you locking me out? Things were fine this morning. Wait… is this because you said you loved me a few weeks ago? I know we never really talked about it, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I liked—”

“Get out!” I scream, covering my ears with my hands. “Get out! I don’t want to talk about this!”

I’m crying again, just as I feared. I didn’t want him to see how this has affected me, and I will not be reminded of how desperately I love him. He has no right to speak on that now.

“I… I can’t. I don’t know how to deal with this,” I whisper.

“Deal with what?” he nearly pleads, taking a step closer. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me, pup. Let me fix this, alright? Let me help.”

But he can’t help when he’s the problem. And everything else… I’d rather he never hear of it. He can’t. I’d die. The piece of me that he has held dear all of these years will disintegrate, right before his eyes.

“Please,” I beg, “just go. I’m not in any state to try and—”

“Stop trying to get rid of me! I can’t just walk away from you. You’re mine, Skylar. And I’m yours.”

“Mine?” I parrot, my arms slowly lowering as I meet his eyes.

He’s teary-eyed, watching me in a panic. He takes another step toward me, cautiously. “Yes. Yours.”

“You’re not.” My voice is suddenly firm, and surprisingly, I portray no anger or sorrow as I speak. “You are not mine. If you were, you wouldn’t be out with somebody else.”

Everett freezes, his face going momentarily blank before all of the blood drains from it. He flinches.

“W-what?” he stutters.

“I saw you leave the restaurant with her. I saw you holding hands. And now you’re here, demanding I talk to you? No. I’m done.”

As the word done leaves my mouth, Everett’s back stiffens, and his left eye twitches. Some part of me is certain that he’ll agree and walk right out, while the other is certain that he will tackle me onto the couch.

“You are not done,” he demands. “You don’t even understand what you saw, so you can’t be done.”

“It’s not hard to interpret, Everett,” I counter. “You were on a date, and I saw it. There is nothing more to understand.”

“You’re wrong. There is so much more to understand.”

As he takes a step toward me, I step back, falling onto the couch as the blanket catches my feet.

“Stop,” I yelp.

“Actually,” he interjects, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I think it’ll take more than just me to explain.”

“What?”

But he doesn’t answer. Instead, he scrolls through his phone for a moment before pressing it to his ear. We are thrust into another tense silence, and I watch him wearily.

“Hey,” he suddenly says into the receiver. “I need your help. Can you drive to the apartments on Sunset Ave? Yeah… perfect, it’s unit 236. See you soon.”

Everett slides his phone back into his pocket.

I can feel my eyes narrowing, my heart speeding up. “Please tell me you did not invite that girl to my home.”

He shrugs. “You need to hear it from her, too.”

“No! I don’t! Fuck, Everett, just leave!” I’m damn near hyperventilating.