Sweet Talk (COMPLETE)

23 - I'm Scared

Evan sat the pizza box in the center of the table, lifting the lid as I placed a bowl of salad beside each of our plates. "This looks yummy!"

"I didn't think about it, but they had salads there too. Next time, I can pick one up if you want so you can take a break." He unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirtsleeves and folded them up over his tan forearms the way he knew made me drool.

"That's okay." I glanced away, telling myself not to blush at my boyfriend's hotness. "It was easy to throw together, and we already had everything."

I sat and when I looked across the table at him; he was grinning. "See something you want, baby doll?"

"Maybe." I giggled.

He reached over, setting a piece of pizza on my plate before taking a bite of his. "How was your day?"

"Good! Nothing big." I took a sip of water. "Oh, I looked at the college website and classes are starting in a few weeks. I need to get signed up."

Spearing a cucumber slice with my fork, I popped it in my mouth, and it took me a second to notice he'd gone still. His tight expression turned my stomach, and I wished I hadn't eaten anything. "What's wrong?"

He scoffed. "What the fuck, Camilla? Aren't you happy here?"

"Yeah, of course I am, but—"

"Then why would you go back to school?"

"We always planned for me to go back." My heart raced. "I only dropped out last semester because I missed so many classes. I'd have failed otherwise. But I still want to teach." Why was he acting like this was a shock?

"No. Fuck that." His face reddened and his breathing became shallow. Everything inside me tightened at the sight of his anger. I balled my fists in my lap in an attempt to stop the shaking.

"This isn't about kids or teaching or any other bullshit," Evan yelled. "This is about you seeing Jake again." He shoved his bowl across the table and stood, stomping through the living room.

I caught his salad before it could fly off the table and followed him. If he'd just listen, he'd know that wasn't true. "Evan, no. I want to teach. You know I've always wanted to help kids. It has nothing to do with Jake."

Evan turned the corner to the bedroom, and I trailed behind him. "Jake isn't even at school anymore."

He stopped so abruptly, I almost ran into his back. Spinning to face me, his eyes narrowed. "How would you know that?"

My stomach twisted, threatening to send its contents into my throat. "I ran into Michelle last week at the store when I went to get your steak sauce. She told me."

Moving closer, he crowded me until I pressed back into the corner of the wall. "So you planned to see her and lied to me about it. Why? Was he there too?"

"No!" I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't planned at all."

"Lying bitch!" His palm struck my cheek, leaving a sting that felt like a burn. Out of reflex, I shoved him away. Regret was instant as he hardly moved, but his expression became livid.

Like a snake's strike, the back of his hand connected with the entire side of my face from temple to jaw, knocking my head into the wall. His low voice became muffled as lights twinkled just above my eyes and I slid to the floor on weak legs.

The absurd image of birds circling my head like in a cartoon filled my mind until Evan grabbed my jaw, forcing me to look up at him. The vein in his forehead bulged under his reddened skin as his eyes narrowed. "I'm not stupid, Camilla. You've been seeing him this whole time, haven't you?"