Cold Marriage, Burning Regret novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: It Isn't Midnight

"Mara's on shift till morning," I said. "Get inside before you catch pneumonia."

I did not know why I said it.

He followed me up three flights without a word, and the water ran off his coat onto Mara's hallway floor.

I turned on one lamp in the living room and stood with my back to the radiator.

He stood just inside the door, dripping.

"You went to see him," Scott said.

"Yes."

"What did he tell you?"

"That I should ask you what happened the year you were twenty-two."

His face closed.

I watched it shut, an inch at a time.

"Ask me anything else," he said.

"What happened that year?"

"Marcella."

"Say it, Scott. One sentence."

"No."

"Then I'm going to tell you something instead."

I crossed the room until I was close enough to see the rain on his lashes.

"For three years you came to my bed on the first and the fifteenth. The lights went off before you touched me. You never said my name unless you were telling me to turn something off. You were gone before midnight every time, and I lay there afterward and listened to the elevator."

"I never meant it to hurt you."

"I know. That was the worst part. You were so careful not to mean anything at all."

His hands were fists at his sides.

"I used to think there was a man under all of that," I said. "I thought if I was patient, if I was good enough, I'd find him. I told myself you were cold by nature. I told myself I'd be the one to melt you."

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend