Everything changed about Clint in that moment. His eyes filled with apology and he came forward and cupped her cheek.
She jumped, but he ignored it. “Babe, come on, let’s talk. I’ll take you out to a nice dinner. You’ll have a glass of wine. Everything will be better.”
She brushed his hand away. She hated wine. And right now, she hated that he didn’t know that and kept pushing what he wanted on her. “It’s been a long day. I’m tired.”
“We’ll order in, watch a movie. Whatever you want, baby.”
This time she made her wishes clear. “I want you to leave.”
Clint stared her down, but Liz didn’t give in. “Fine. But if I find out you called him . . .”
“Leave now, or I will call the cops.” Ava held up her phone, 911 showed on the display. All she had to do was hit the call button.
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” That sounded like a threat.
Liz stepped back, indicating he should go. She needed time to calm down and gather her wits. Think. After all that happened with Tate and Clint over the last few hours, she simply couldn’t deal with anything more.
Some things were better dealt with at a distance. Clint’s volatile temper was one of them. She wanted him out of her condo and away from her.
Clint let out a frustrated sigh and brushed past Ava on his way down the stairs.
Ava stepped into Liz’s condo, closed the door, and locked it. “Are you okay?”
Liz crossed her arms and brushed her hands up and down them. “I am now. Thanks.”
“I had a boyfriend like him once. Started out great. He was sweet, loving, everything I always wanted in a man. Then one day a guy made a pass at me in front of him. A switch flipped. He became jealous. Obsessed with knowing where I was, what I was doing every minute of the day. At first, you think it’s cute he’s so interested. The first time he hurt me, it came out of the blue. We’d had dinner together at this cute little bistro. We got to the car to drive home, and wham! Out of nowhere he backhands me across the face. He said if I ever looked at another man the way I did to our waiter, he’d do more than slap me. I didn’t know what to say. I should have jumped out of the car and run for it. I stayed longer than I should have because he always had a heartfelt apology and spoiled me with flowers and gifts. It took me too long to see that they didn’t mean anything and didn’t make up for the bruises. It took a friend making me take stock of the relationship to see that I spent more days afraid of him than happy.”
“I don’t know what happened to the guy I thought I knew. It’s like you said, everything seemed fine until he saw me with a guy friend and he changed. I thought he was just afraid of losing me.”
“If he’s like my ex, losing you is not an option even if he needs to force you to stay.”
Liz didn’t think Clint had become that extreme. “I think he just let his anger get the better of him.”
Ava shook her head. “I used to make up excuses for my ex, too. Don’t let him get away with treating you that way.”
“Oh I won’t.” Liz raked her fingers through her hair. “I just wanted someone to date. Someone to have fun with. Someone who set off fireworks inside me when he kissed me.”
“We all want that, Liz. But it doesn’t have to be with that guy. Dating sucks. You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. Toss that fish back. Something inside him is rotten.”
“You’re mixing your metaphors.”
“You get my point.”
Liz nodded. “Thanks again for stepping in. I’ve had one too many arguments today and I just didn’t have it in me for one more with him.”
“People use words to argue, not their hands.”
Ava stepped in to hug her, hit Liz’s sore shoulder and winced for Liz. “Sorry. Arguments don’t leave marks. Arguments should turn into compromises.” She smiled. “And makeup sex.”
Liz nodded. “Thanks for the rescue and the advice.”
“Want me to stay awhile? Just in case.”
“I appreciate it, but I really just want some peace and quiet and time to think.”
Ava put her hand on the doorknob. “I’m just across the landing if you need me.” Their doors faced each other. No doubt, if Clint came back, Ava would hear him.
“Thank you. I’ll be okay.”
Ava unlocked the door, opened it, and turned back. “Keep this locked all the time.” With that, she stepped out and closed the door.
Liz locked up right away, went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, pulled out a beer, unscrewed the cap, and took a deep swallow just as her phone beeped with a text.
Her hands shook as she went to grab her purse where she’d dropped it on the floor just inside the door. She checked her phone, dreading a text from Clint, but it was Tate, and her relief eased away the trembling in her body.
TATE: You ok
TATE: I’m sorry things didn’t end well again
TATE: I still need to talk to you
TATE: Call me PLEASE
Tears cascaded down her cheeks. Overwhelmed from her talk earlier with Tate, and from Clint’s . . . she didn’t know what to make of Clint right now. It seemed like nothing went right with the men in her life today. Neither of them were acting like she expected.
Uneasy, feeling a little lost, she called Tate, needing to simply hear his voice.
“Hey, Lizard. How’s my girl?” His deep voice washed through her easing her heart. He’d never called her his girl before, but the nickname brought a slight smile to her lips even as she wiped the tears away.
“I’m a little out of it right now. My best friend and I aren’t syncing anymore. The guy I’ve been seeing is . . .”
“What?”
She shook her head, unwilling to get into it. Tate would overreact. Maybe she was blowing this out of proportion, too. “Never mind.”
“Liz, if something’s wrong, you can talk to me. Even if it’s about him.”
“He has every right to be angry that—”
“You love me, not him.”
She sighed and hung her head. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s true. Right?” He sounded unsure.
“We had this talk at your place. Nothing has changed.”
“Maybe it has for me.” His voice softened with those words.
All too familiar hope sprang up inside her, but she squashed it down because she couldn’t be disappointed again or feel the fool for thinking he might actually—finally—return her feelings.
“After how we left our talk and what happened tonight—”
“What happened?” Urgency filled his voice.
She hesitated too long to answer because she didn’t want him to know that Clint scared her.
“What. Happened?” The force he put into that question hit her in the chest and made her heart beat faster.
“Never mind.”
“Liz, seriously, you’ve never had a problem speaking your mind with me. Just tell me.”
“Let’s stick to us.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, I think we should try us.”
“Don’t you get it, Tate, I’ve hoped so many times that you would look at me differently. That you’d feel the way I do. And now you give me maybe something has changed for you and you want to try. Do you have any idea how crushingly disappointing it is to hope you mean it but know it’s probably not true. It’s not real.”