Page 24 of The Clinch
Eden sits beside me, shoulder to shoulder. She doesn’t rush it.
“Do you want to tell me who that man was?” she asks gently. “You were married?”
“I was.”
“You and I met when you were, what, twenty-two? You must’ve been really young.”
I stare at my hands until I can answer. “Yeah.”
Eden waits.
“I met him my first year of college. Fell stupidly in love and married him before I turned twenty.” I pause, searching for language that won’t pull me under. “He was breathtaking. Beautiful. Strong. The kind of man everyone notices.”
I don’t mention how Leo trips the same wires. How familiar that feeling is when I look at him.
“At first it was good. Really good.” I work through a swallow. “Then he started fighting underground. MMA. Got caught. Banned.” I shrug. “His career fell apart. He got frustrated. Angry. Started taking it out on me.”
That’s the part people never talk about, what happens after the fall.
And Leo has farther to fall than Travis ever did.
Eden’s expression tightens, but she doesn’t interrupt.
“Bruises,” I continue briskly. “ER visits. Apologies that sounded convincing until the next time.”
She waits.
“Then I got pregnant. I was terrified but... hopeful, you know? Thought maybe it would change things.” I shake my head. “It didn’t. We had a fight. A bad one. He shoved me.”
I pause.
“I lost the baby that night.”
“Oh my God, Liz,” Eden whispers, her arm sliding around my shoulders.
I keep my eyes on the floor. “I left him two weeks later. Packed what I could and flew to Seattle, then from there to New York. Thought flying crisscross would muddy the trail.” I let out a short breath. “I filed for divorce. Changed my name. Used the money my parents gave me to buy the place at the Cherokee. Enrolled in nursing school.” I glance at her. “That’s when I put up the roommate ad. You answered. You know the rest.”
Eden’s jaw tightens. “Jesus, Liz. I had no idea.”
“I didn’t want you to,” I say quietly. “I just wanted it over. And most days... it is. I don’t think about him. I don’t think about any of it.”
Eden studies me for a moment. “That explains a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why you never let anything get serious. Why you keep it short and casual. Why me warning you about Leo being a hit-and-run kind of guy didn’t bother you at all.”
She isn’t wrong.
“I know how this goes. I just need it not to go that way this time.”
Eden doesn’t push.
I lean back on my hands, drawing a breath that reaches all the way down. “I was pre-med when I met him. Planning to gostraight through to med school. He ruined that plan once.” I pause. “Now he shows up just as I’m about to get back on track. Like he has some kind of radar for the worst possible timing.”
“We won’t let him come close,” Eden says firmly. “There’s no way he can get past Leo.”
“I don’t know how he found me. I hate that I’m inconveniencing your brother.” I hesitate. “I also don’t love being in his apartment.”
