He must’ve caught a note of the hurt of him pushing my comments to the side because he quickly stood to his feet. “I’m sorry, Stella. I’m an idiot. I made a complete mess of things last night. I was extremely pumped about the gig I had, and all I could hear in my head was my father’s voice, telling me I wasn’t good enough. That I couldn’t do it. So I had a few drinks to get out of my own head.”
“You know drinking never really helps you.”
“Yeah, but you know”—he tapped the side of his head and shrugged—“Daddy issues and shit. But I’m sorry.” He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. “I won’t mess up like this again,” he swore.
“Okay. But the equipment?”
“Can’t I sober up before this conversation continues? I already know you’re going to eat my ass out for it.”
“Just tell me, Jeff.”
“I took out a small loan, all right?”
“What? Why would you do that? We can’t afford—”
“But we can,” he cut in, taking my hands into his. He squeezed them lightly. “I don’t think you understand this, Stella. We’re multimillionaires due to good ole Kevin.”
“That’s only if we make it the six months. Besides, you shouldn’t be taking out loans for things when—”
“Why can’t you be happy for us?!” he shouted, his irritation building second by second. “You’re always praying to your ocean god for help, so when they send it, you can’t even celebrate it.”
I felt a knot forming in my gut. “Please lower your voice.”
“Please stop being so, so, so—”
“So what, Jeff?”
“Like you!” he barked. “You make everything a bigger deal than it actually has to be. It’s fucking exhausting. You’re exhausting, Stella.”
Chills raced down my spine as I looked into his eyes that set with heavy bags beneath them. His words stung, and I was left speechless.
“Is there a problem in here?” a deep voice asked. I turned to find Damian standing there with his broad shoulders and his arms crossed. His focus was on Jeff, and he looked ready to attack.
“Who the hell are you?” Jeff asked.
“I’m Damian, Stella’s roommate.”
Roommate. Husband. Same thing, different terms.
Jeff puffed out his chest a bit and turned to me. “That’s the guy from the will?”
“We met last night,” Damian coldly stated. “I’m guessing you were too plastered to recall that encounter.”
“Yeah, probably.” Jeff stared my way. “I’m going to get water, then we’ll finish this discussion at home.”
Before I could stay anything, Jeff pushed past both Damian and me and headed out of the bedroom.
When he was gone, I released the breath that was caught in my throat. I hadn’t even known I’d been holding it in. I felt the heat to my cheeks as I stared at Damian. “I’m sorry about the noise.”
“He yelled at you.”
“Yeah. He’s a bit hungover and not much of a morning person.”
“It’s noon.”
“Right. Of course. But, well he—”
“You don’t have to do that, Stella.”
“Do what?”
“Make excuses for his actions.”
I didn’t know what to say, and it appeared he didn’t either because we stood there for a moment in complete silence. I could tell there was something on his mind, though. Something was always lingering in Damian’s thoughts. He simply never shared them with an audience.
“Just say it, Damian. I know you’re thinking something, so go ahead and say it.”
“It bothers me,” he stated, standing tall.
“What bothers you?”
“The way he drinks, and the way he speaks to you when he drinks. The way he yells at you when he’s hungover. That bothers me.”
“I—”
“Does he hurt you?” he cut in, stepping closer to me.
“You can’t keep asking me that, Damian,” I whispered.
“I’ll stop asking when you stop lying about it, Stella.”
I swallowed hard, feeling chills race up and down my arms. “He’s never hit me,” I said sternly, certain.
Damian’s facial features shifted into the most heartbreaking expression. His ocean blue eyes looked on the verge of despair as he stared my way. His expression alone almost made me fall to my knees and cry.
“Stella,” he whispered, inching closer. So close that the space between us was mere inches. So close that the heat from his body was able to land against my skin. His mouth parted as he spoke a truth I didn’t even think of uncovering. “That isn’t the only way a man can hurt a woman.”
“I… he’s…” I felt confused. Uncertain of what it was that Damian even wanted me to say. “Jeff isn’t as bad as you think.”
“I hope you treat yourself as kindly as you do others, but judging by your choice of partnership, I doubt it.”
“That’s mean, Damian,” I softly said, feeling on the verge of tears.
“Then I apologize,” he replied. “I do not mean to offend. I simply mean to speak facts.”
“It’s not facts. It’s your opinion.”
“Trust me, Stella. It’s facts.”
“Stella! My phone’s dead. I need you to drive me back to my car,” Jeff shouted. “Hurry, will you?”
Damian stepped backward.
I stood still, shaken up by the whole situation. “Sorry, I have to go,” I muttered, walking past him to leave the room.
“Stella.”
“Yes?”
“He’s not the hero in your romantic comedy,” Damian stated. I looked over to those blue eyes of his as he continued. “He’s the dick boyfriend in the opening credits.”
After Jeff and I made it back to our place, he was still slightly hungover, so I cooked him breakfast. It took a while for his apologies to come, but he did say he was sorry for the way he treated me. Then he threw me for a loop.
“What do you mean you want to meet him?” I asked, confused by Jeff’s words. “You just met him.”
“No, I mean really meet him. A sit-down conversation.”
“Why?”
“Why not? You don’t think it’s a good idea for your boyfriend to meet your husband?” he said as he sat in the living room, flipping through his collection of vinyl records. “Unless there’s a reason you’re being weird about it.”
I felt as if he sucker-punched me with his words as I moved across the room and sat on the floor beside him and the records. “What? No. Of course there isn’t a reason. Why would you think that?”
“I wasn’t invited to the wedding,” he said.
I laughed. “You were invited. You said you didn’t want to come.”
“Of course, I didn’t want to come and watch another man marry my woman. But I do think it’s important to meet the person you’re living with. I mean, what if he’s a creep? Or a serial killer?”