I grabbed Devon’s arm. “I said get out!” I yelled, yanking on him. He looked down at me, and the tears were gone. He was angry. Really, really angry.
“Get your f**king hands off me or I’ll break your fingers,” he warned in a deadly quiet voice.
Well, he’d just have to break my fingers then.
“Get out!” I screamed, hoping our neighbors would hear me and come see what the noise was about.
Renee had her back against the wall, but her face had softened. I couldn’t believe it!
After everything he had done, she was looking at him like she actually missed him!
Devon was speaking to her, filling her ears with every line of romantic bullshit he knew she’d want to hear. His mouth was moving, but all I heard were the lies. To judge from the look on Renee’s face, she was believing him. Or at least she wanted to.
I knew she still loved him. Why had she given her heart to someone who treated it so poorly? It was there, plain as day, on her face. Love. Heart-stopping, kill-you-slowly love.
My heart pounded in my chest as I watched them. The sight in front of me was so familiar that it took my breath away.
As Devon spoke, it was Maxx’s words I heard. And it wasn’t Renee I saw drinking in his pleading promises . . . it was me.
Our loves weren’t so different, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that they were. They were equally destructive. Equally exhausting. And equally dysfunctional.
“Please, Renee. Just give me another chance,” Devon begged, and Renee’s eyes were filling with tears. Shit, she was going to cave.
She couldn’t cave! If she gave in, then what was to stop me from doing the same? We needed to be strong. We had to do it together.
So I did the only thing I could, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Devon turned on me, rage making him ugly.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” Devon roared, knocking me backward. His blow hit my shoulder, and I fell to the floor.
And finally Renee woke up. With trembling hands she pulled out her cell phone and held it up.
“Get out, Devon. Never come back here! We are done! We have been over for a long time! I never, ever want to see your sick, sorry face again! If you don’t leave in the next thirty seconds, I’m calling the police. I’ll get a restraining order. Your ass will be in so much trouble! And then what would Mommy and Daddy say about that?” she asked, her lips twisting in a smirk I had never seen her wear. Her shoulders were back and her chin lifted. I knew Devon terrified her, but she was standing strong. I had never been more proud of her.
Devon frowned, as though not sure he had heard her correctly. “Baby, you can’t mean that. We belong together. I love you,” he tried again.
Renee started to dial numbers and then was speaking into the phone.
“Yes, I’m being stalked, and he’s here now. His name is Devon Keeton and he’s my ex-boyfriend. I’m scared for my safety,” Renee said into the phone.
Devon was furious. He looked ready to spit nails. With Renee still talking to the dispatch officer, he sprinted out the door.
I hastily closed the door behind him and locked it.
“He just left,” Renee was saying into the phone. She sagged down the wall to sit on the floor.
“I don’t think he’ll come back. You don’t need to send anyone. Okay. I will. Thank you.”
She hung up the phone, and her head dropped in her hands. I put my arm around her shoulders.
“I’ve got to go down to the courthouse and file a preliminary restraining order. But maybe he won’t do anything. Maybe he’ll leave me alone now,” Renee said, looking worn down but faintly hopeful.
“I’m not sure. But I think you should get one. For your own peace of mind,” I told her.
Renee nodded, and we were quiet for a while. Then she looked at me, her face weary.
“Why do we do this to ourselves, Aubrey? Why do we give our hearts to men who crush them? I thought Devon was my prince. God, I thought he loved me. I’m such an idiot.” She was sobbing, and I was crying with her. For her. For myself. For every shitty relationship that ended in tears.
“Love shouldn’t feel like this,” Renee said, sniffling through her tears. And she was right. This burning, aching pain deep in my chest shouldn’t be what love feels like. It wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t right. And unfortunately, it just wouldn’t go away.
I was a woman trapped.
“Come on, I’ll go with you to the courthouse. Then I’ll treat you to that chocolate cake you love from Caketopia,” I offered gently.
Renee rubbed the tears from her cheeks and gave me a brave smile.
At least someone was learning from her mistakes before it was too late.
After waiting with Renee to meet with the magistrate, I had stepped outside and, in a moment of weakness, tried to call Maxx again.
So much for my stern resolve.
But I couldn’t help it. My keen sense of dread the longer he stayed off the radar wouldn’t subside.
Of course he didn’t answer.
I had tucked my phone into my pocket, and when Renee was done I had pretended that nothing was wrong. Afterward I had taken Renee to her favorite bakery next to the campus and started plying her with baked goods.
Renee hadn’t cried. She hadn’t wavered in her decision to get the restraining order.
She was downright amazing.
“Aren’t you going to eat those?” Renee asked after polishing off her hot chocolate. I slid the plate toward her.
“Have at ’em,” I said with the best smile I could muster.
My phone started ringing in my pocket, and just like every other time, my heart gave a thrill of hope that it would be Maxx on the other end.
And just like every other time in the past week, I was disappointed that it wasn’t.
I was, however, surprised to see it was Kristie Hinkle, my support group co-facilitator.
“Who is it?” Renee asked, seeing the look on my face.
“My co-facilitator for group,” I replied as the phone continued to ring.
“Well, shouldn’t you answer it?” Renee urged.
I laughed a bit nervously and connected the call.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Aubrey. I’ll make this quick. I need to meet with you. Today, if possible,” she said, her tone brusque. We had already met for support group this week, so I couldn’t think of any reason she had to meet with me so soon afterward.
“Uh, sure.” I stumbled over my words.
“Good. I’m at my office downtown. Do you know where that is?” she asked. Her voice was cold, and I felt the tingling of alarm along the back of my neck.