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There was another thump and then a giggle. Anger flared up in me, and I clenched my fists. That unimaginable asshole!
I stalked over to the second bedroom door and pushed it open. There in bed—in my bed—was good ol’ Beck, wrapped up in the arms, and legs, of another woman. I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or scream.
“Honey,” I quipped through clenched teeth. “I’m home.”
“Marnie!” he yelped, sounding like a dog who’d just gotten his tail snapped in a trap. He sat up so fast that he accidentally threw the girl to the floor. She took the sheet down with her, leaving Beck naked as a jaybird on top of my cheap WalMart sheet set.
“Hey—” the girl began to whine.
Gabe and I both shushed her, and she pouted. She didn’t exactly look like an honors student, and I could tell she was slowly fitting the pieces together.
“Oh,” she said when they finally clicked. She very suddenly looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.
Beck’s expression tried to feign something sincere and guilty, but I could also sense his annoyance. He put his hands up, doing his best impression of an apology. “Marnie, this isn’t what it looks like…”
I cut him off with a grin, then crossed my arms and tapped my foot. “Oh, Beck, really? Because it looks like you’ve been making yourself quite at home. Inside my house.” I tilted my head toward the girl. “And inside her.”
The other woman stood up and began frantically searching for her clothes, looking like she wanted to blend into the wallpaper. Beck, on the other hand, couldn’t quite pull off his “I’m sorry” face.
“Marnie, you’ve been on my case about getting a job and taking responsibility. I just needed some space… and you… you left me all alone here for, like, days,” Beck said, trying to play the victim. It came out even more pitiful than he probably intended.
Gabe stepped up beside me. “You sure I can’t still yank him downstairs… way downstairs?”
I shot him a sideways smile. “No, we’re good people now, remember?”
“Wait, who… who is this?” Beck said, his eyes wide.
The girl was now fully dressed, and she threw the bed sheet in his face in a wadded-up ball before I could answer. She scurried past both Gabe and me without a word. It was probably a smart move on her part.
“Marnie, you… you can’t be mad at me and then be like…” Beck sputtered, motioning toward Gabe.
I stepped forward and narrowed my gaze at him. “You broke up with me. Which means two things.” I ticked them off on my fingers as I kept my tone both even and threatening. “One, I owe you nothing. Not one answer. And two, get the fuck out of my house.”
Beck’s eyes widened, and at that moment, I think he finally realized I was not the girl who used to live with him. I was something different, something better. I was a woman who’d finally realized I deserved way more than some mediocre Ohio musician who couldn’t even go down on a girl properly.
“Marnie, can’t we at least have a conversation about this?” he pleaded, holding the wadded-up sheet to his chest. “I mean, babe, do you really want to miss out on our future? My music—”
“Gabe,” I said, interrupting him. “Will you please show Beck the door? Oh, and make sure he doesn’t take anything on the way out.” I ran my eyes down Beck’s still-nude body with a mocking grin. “I mean anything. I’ll consider it all a repayment for supporting his talentless ass.”
Gabe stepped forward with a lopsided grin. His eyes bore down on Beck. The light in the room shifted just slightly, making Gabe’s teeth seem just a little too long, his cheeks a little too sunken in. The skull was gone, but it seemed like he could still call it forth for a good scare now and then.
Beck stammered. “Who... who are you?”
Gabe’s voice was a low, menacing growl. I noticed that both Beck and I shivered, but undoubtedly for very different reasons. Gabe cracked his knuckles, producing an unsettling series of snaps.
“I’m here to make sure you understand one thing very clearly,” Gabe said slowly, bending down just a little to get in Beck’s face. I watched, unable to hide the smirk forming on my face.
Beck swallowed hard, his fake sincerity evaporating. Now, he looked genuinely scared. “W—what do you want?”
“I want you to leave,” Gabe said. “I want you to think about how badly you fucked up every single day. Marnie’s name doesn’t even leave your mouth, you hear me? And you’re going to leave everything you own here. You’ve got a debt to pay.”
Beck stiffened a little, trying to seem tough. Which, it’s kinda hard to seem tough when you’re buck-naked and currently limp-dicked in your ex’s bed. “What if I say no? My instruments, like—”
With a sudden burst of inhuman speed, Gabe lunged forward. He flicked his switchblade out lightning-fast, and I noticed that his skeletal features were no longer a hint. They were once more fully pronounced on his handsome face. I smelled smoke and sulfur as Gabe let his demon side show. Beck let out a yelp, stumbled backward, and ran for the bedroom door. I wiggled my fingers in a little wave as he sprinted past, relishing the sight of his pale ass fleeing down the stairs. He scrambled down the porch steps and into his truck without looking back, screaming the whole time. I heard the screech of tires as he peeled out of the drive and down the lane.
Once he was fully gone, both Gabe and I burst out into laughter.
“Oh my god, his face!” Gabe cackled. “Where’d the guy even put his keys?”
