© Copyright 2015 Micalea Smeltzer
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover design and photography by Regina Wamba at Mae I Design
Formatted By Ready, Set, Edit
TRACE + OLIVIA SERIES
Finding Olivia
Chasing Olivia
Tempting Rowan
Saving Tatum
SECOND CHANCES SERIES
Unraveling
Undeniable
WILLOW CREEK SERIES
Last to Know
Never Too Late
In Your Heart
STANDALONES
Beauty in the Ashes
Rae of Sunshine
“Music exists to speak the words we can’t express.”
—Unknown
I WAS GETTING married in two weeks.
I was getting married in two weeks and I was standing here watching my so-called fiancé stick his dick in a woman that wasn't me.
An inhuman shriek crawled out of my throat and I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on which happened to be one of Braden’s baseball caps—granted, it wouldn’t do much damage, but at least it was something—and threw it at his bare back. He was already turning to look at me over his shoulder, his hips still thrusting against the skank beneath him, when the cap hit him.
“What the hell?” He glared at me.
At me, like I was the one doing something wrong.
“Excuse me?” I stormed forward. My whole body shook with barely contained rage.
Before I could reach them he stood up, wrapping the bed covers around his waist and leaving the woman in our bed lying there completely naked.
That was Braden for you, ever the gentlemen.
He held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Let’s talk about this, Sadie.”
“Yeah, let’s talk!” I screamed, waving a hand in the direction of the woman lying on my sheets. “Let’s talk about the fact that apparently you slipped and fell and your penis ended up in someone else’s vagina! Thank God she was there to break your fall!” I yelled sarcastically.
“It’s not what—”
I slapped him across the cheek. My hand left behind a red imprint on his skin. His teeth snapped together and he glared down at me.
“Don’t you fucking dare tell me it’s not what it looks like,” I shouted, my hands shaking at my sides.
The woman in our bed was still lying there. Why, I didn’t know. Maybe she thought I’d be kind enough to leave and let them finish.
As. Fucking. If.
“Sadie—”
He grabbed my arm and I screamed so loud that I was sure everyone in the apartment complex heard me. “Take your fucking hand off of me!!”
Braden, surprisingly, let me go. He took a step back and I swore his skin had paled a shade.
That’s right asshole, be afraid. Be very afraid.
I poked a finger into his chest—a chest I had once found to be a magnificent piece of masculine perfection.
“I can’t fucking believe you! After everything you’ve put me through you go and do this! Seriously?! What the fuck did I ever see in you?!” The words poured out of my mouth. I was beyond hurt and pissed off. This was the man I’d planned on spending the rest of my life with, the man I’d given up so many important things for, and here he was fucking another woman only weeks before our wedding.
It was comical really, the irony of it all, since he’d been convinced I was sleeping with my friend Ezra. I thought of all the ridiculous accusations Braden had lobbed my way, and I couldn’t help wondering if his own indiscretions led to his insecurity.
Hell, Braden had practically forced me to end my friendship with Ezra.
Why? Why had I been so blinded? When did I become this weak, sniveling excuse for a person that I let an asshole like him walk all over me? And why did it take me seeing him fucking someone else, to finally snap back into reality and realize what a complete asshole he was?
Fuck.
It was like I’d been brainwashed.
I tore at my hair, my breaths coming out in little gasps.
Anger at myself, at him, and at the bitch in my bed simmered dangerously in my veins. It wouldn’t take much for me to snap and lose my ever-loving mind.
“Sadie, let’s talk about this—”
“Should I get dressed?” The woman in our bed spoke up.
“Yes!” I screamed.
Her eyes widened and she slipped from the bed, looking around for her clothes.
With another scream I started for the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Braden asked, trailing behind me.
He kept stopping to untangle his feet from the too-long sheet wrapped around his waist.
I wished he would trip and die.
“Sadie,” he started in again.
I opened one of the various drawers in the kitchen and pulled out a knife, waving it around like a crazy person.
He paled further.
“Sadie, put down the knife.”
“No!” I screamed. “I think I should cut your dick off so you can fuck yourself with it! Would that suffice?!”
Braden’s mouth fell slightly open.
He was afraid.
Good.
The asshole should be afraid for his life.
Or the life of his penis, which was really the most important thing to him.
“I’m calling 911!” I heard the woman shout from my bedroom.
“Go ahead, bitch!”
“Sadie, be reasonable,” Braden started.
I thrust the knife in his direction, flailing my arms about like I’d seen jousters do on TV. “Reasonable?! You want me to be reasonable?!”
“I’m a man, I have needs—”
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” I threw my hands up in the air. “Your needs? That’s seriously the excuse you’re using? Wow, you’re dumber than I thought.” Laughing manically, I cried, “Who am I kidding? I’m the dumb one for being with you.”
When I met Braden he’d been…perfect. I knew that sounded cliché, but it was true. He was everything I’d always wanted and more. He treated me nicely and was always a gentleman. Once things got serious he started changing. I chalked it up to the fact that he’d recently started a new job. When things got worse after our engagement I found every excuse possible to explain his behavior. I’d been so naïve.
Everybody had tried to warn me that something wasn’t right.
But I’d been blinded by…love?
No, that wasn’t the right answer.
I think I’d been more blinded by my own need not to be wrong.
It was like I felt by giving up on my relationship with Braden it was admitting defeat—admitting that everyone else had been right about him.
Look where that got you? My conscience piped in.
“Sadie.” He took a few steps forward.
“Stay away from me!” I jabbed the knife in his direction. I wasn’t really going to hurt him, but oh how I wanted to.
“Sadie, put the fucking knife down and let’s talk about this,” he pleaded.
I wiped the back of my hand over my tear stained face.