Page 18 of Inked Heart
That’s the part that bothers me most.Because no one should be used to being treated like that, least of all her own boyfriend.
“Quinn.”
She looks up.“Yeah?”
I hesitate.This is the moment where I should mind my own business.Where I should remember that she has a boyfriend and this situation doesn’t involve me.But the words push their way out anyway.
“You shouldn’t let him talk to you like that.”
Her expression tightens slightly.“I told you it’s not a big deal.”
“He called you stupid.”
Her lips press together.“He didn’t mean it.”
The instant the words leave her mouth, I feel something inside my chest snap.
“He absolutely meant it.”
She doesn’t respond right away.Instead she reaches into the cooler and grabs a carton of eggs, placing them carefully in the cart like they might shatter under the wrong kind of attention.
“Relationships are complicated,” she says finally.
“No,” I say quietly.“They’re not.”
She looks at me again.“You’ve never been in a long-term relationship.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m blind.”
“It means you don’t know how things work.”
I lean against the cart handle.“Explain it to me then.”
She sighs softly.“People get frustrated.They say things they don’t mean.”
“And calling you stupid counts as frustration?”
Her gaze drops to the floor.“Emette has a lot of pressure on him.”
I blink.Pressure.Right.Because that makes insulting your girlfriend in a grocery store totally acceptable.
“You deserve better,” I say before I can stop myself.
Her head snaps up.“What?”
“You deserve someone who doesn’t make you feel small.”
For a moment the air between us goes completely still, like the entire store has paused to listen.Quinn studies my face carefully.
“You don’t know anything about our relationship.”
“I know what I saw,” I counter.
“You saw one moment,” she replies softly.
“That moment was more than enough.”
Her expression shifts slightly, something softer and more uncertain.“You’re being nice,” she says quietly.
