The Gamble, Book 3

Chapter 4

Reid

Sarah huffed, turning her nose up at me as she stopped rambling on about some disagreement between her and her friends over fashion, or something like that, "I'm boring you, aren't I?"

Of course, I wasn't paying enough attention to her, so she got huffy; it was getting old.

"No babe, I'm just trying to watch my show."

"I don't see you all week, weekends are all we get, and you'd rather sit here and watch a show you can watch any day."

I had to suppress the growl that threatened to slip out. I took her out for her favorite meal last night, and I'd taken her out for the day all day today. We'd gone shopping, visited Camden market, ate lunch out, went to the sea life centre, we'd only gotten home an hour ago. Was it so much that I wanted half an hour to unwind and relax?

"It's only forty minutes long, babe. It's nearly finished."

"Fine, whatever." She folded her arms across her chest and turned her entire body away from me. She had moments where she could be loving, but these moments where she was acting entitled and huffy were becoming far more frequent.

I sighed, pressing pause on the TV, "I'm sorry, what do you want to do? We can do whatever you want."

"No, it's fine, watch your silly show."

Payton never said that about any of my shows, even if she didn't like them. Sure, we'd tease each other about the shows one liked, but the other didn't. We'd play and mess around, but we never said something like that, with spite behind our tones. "Sarah, please, I've had a long week."

There was a moment of silence before she slumped, unfolding her arms in defeat and turning back to face me, "I'm sorry, I just...never mind."

I looked at her with a raised brow, and another thing, she always did this, went to say something then change her mind, "What's bothering you, tell me, please?"

"I just...feel like we do the same thing week in, week out. You never respond when I say I love you; you always brush over it. You never talk about a future with me, we've been dating seven months, and I feel like we're not going anywhere."

I inwardly cursed, I couldn't get into this with her, not right now. It's not like we'd been together seven years so I saw no reason to rush, "Sarah, I told you when we met, I'd not long got out of a messy breakup with someone I'd been with for seven years. I gave you the deal from day one."

"I know. I just thought you'd be over it by now, and you'd finally be ready to move forward with me. That fake ass rock star left you for the high life like she was a fucking rock queen."

That made me mad, and anger bubbled through every inch of me "Don't talk about Payton like that. You work with musicians every day, just as I do. You know she's anything but fake and has more talent than most do in their pinky finger."

"Oh, I see, defending her now, huh?" Her tone was accusing and full of hate for Payton. I knew all too well she didn't like the fact Payton, of all people, had been my ex.

I stood up frustrated, "I'm defending her and the girl's talent, not her directly. I have an ex, Sarah, and I have a past. I've been through more fucking shit than any one person should have to go through, and she was with me through all of it. She was a massive part of me, that's not something I'm just going to forget. You either need to accept I have a past and who my ex is or leave. I'm not going to keep aruging with you over this."

Sarah looked at me wide-eyed. It was the first time I'd stood up to her when she got like this, I usually gave in and just let her win but, I was tiring of it. She always tried to use my past against me during a disagreement, like an old broken record stuck on a loop. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I know how much she meant to you, and I just want you to feel that way about me."