He Said I Was Cruel To Her But His Mind Cried For My Attention Chapter 03
Cole’s voice echoed across the highway lanes.
I didn’t look back. I just walked.
The car pulled up beside me immediately.
“Tessa! Stop!”
[She actually got out!]
[She just got discharged from the hospital. Shit, I don’t even know what was wrong with her. I need to ask her. I need to know.]
[She’s walking into the wind like this. Like she doesn’t care that she was just sick.]
[Does she hate me that much?]
[Turn around! Please turn around, babe!]
“Tessa!”
The car cut in front of me.
I saw his breathing getting faster, the corners of his eyes turning red with panic.
“Tes—”
[Fine. Maybe I should just give up.]
[Seeing her like this is killing me.]
“What?” I asked coldly.
His lips moved.
“Since you’re so tough… fine.” He pointed at my coat. “I bought that for you. Take it off before you go.”
My breath caught.
A cold wind hit me. I pulled the coat tighter. “Cole, this is the interstate. It’s almost winter.”
He leaned one arm on the window frame. “You don’t have to give it back. Just apologize.”
I froze.
He was staring at me like his life depended on it.
[Say you’re wrong. Say it. Stop torturing me. Please, babe.]
His thoughts were practically crying.
Out loud, he said, “Three… two…”
SLAP.
I ripped the coat off and threw it into the car without hesitation.
Cole stared.
“Happy now? Go.”
I was breathing hard.
Cole was gripping that coat—the one he’d saved up for when he was still a broke student. He laughed coldly.
“That’s not all, is it?”
I stiffened.
He looked at me. “What about the rest?”
I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Your shirt. Your pants. I picked every single thing you’re wearing.”
“I…”
I was shivering. “Cole, don’t do this. I’ll pay you back for everything. Just let me keep them for now.”
“The Morgan money all goes to Sierra. What are you going to pay me with?”
I froze.
Once upon a time, when my dad pulled that same line, he’d said,
“Your dad wants to make things hard for you? I won’t let him. I swear, when I make it big, everyone’s going to be jealous of my wife.”
I stared at him. “Are you really going to do this to me?”
“You’re the one doing this to Sierra.”
My eyes burned.
A long silence.
He spoke first. “Three… two…”
“Fine!”
I ripped my shirt off. My bra was showing now.
I threw the fabric right in his face. “Is that enough?”
He went completely still.
A long moment passed. His throat bobbed.
Then, through gritted teeth: “The heels.”
I kicked them off without a word and threw them in too.
He didn’t say anything else.
The car drove away.
I was barefoot. Wearing nothing but a thin bra on top. Nothing below my waist except my underwear. Every gust of wind made my stomach cramp.
And my phone was still in the car.
I limped along the shoulder of the interstate.
Cars passed by. Some drivers stared.
“Tessa?”
A Volkswagen pulled up beside me.
Through the window, my forty-five-year-old boss, Dale Sherman, was staring with wide eyes.
“You okay? Did somebody leave you here?”