Wild Nights With My Brother’s Ex-Best Friend novel Chapter 43

NICOLE

As soon as I’m standing close enough to him, Dan takes my arm and starts dragging me away from the main area.

I let him just because I don’t want him to cause the scene he threatened me with, but his grip is going to leave bruises. I stare at the back of his head and imagine myself slapping him as hard as I can for putting me through this.

How many times do we need to talk about this? Doesn’t he understand the whole point of a breakup?

At first. I felt sorry for him because I felt like I was the one who wronged him by surprising him with a breakup when there was nothing truly wrong about our relationship. I was just tired of how possessive and jealous he was. Otherwise, he was a pretty solid guy.

But maybe that was a red flag in itself.

Look what he’s doing to me now!

He drags me all the way to the lobby of the hotel we’re in, then he keeps going. I endure him, waiting for us to be in private. I’m fuming at this point. Why would he try to ruin my evening in such a childish way?

What kind of man is he?

No, scratch that.

What kind of person is he?

We get to what I assume is a service corridor, which is where the waiters and waitresses go to grab trays of snacks or drinks. Whatever. That’s not important.

Dan and I are facing each other. I ask him, “Yeah, what the hell is wrong with you?”

He points at himself like he’s so innocent, his dark eyes staring back at me in confusion. “Me? What’s wrong with me? You’re the one who’s parading around with another dude, Nicole!”

“Yeah, because we broke up!” I yell, putting emphasis on the words. “Do you know what that even means, Dan? I’m here for work and you’re threatening to cause a scene. I’m going to call the police on you. Do you understand me?”

“Work” he spits. “You must think I’m the biggest idiot on the planet! That guy all but has his hand up your dress! How can you be so gullible? You’re lying to me, aren’t you?”

I sigh, exhausted, and fold my arms as I stare at him with an annoyed expression I don’t even bother hiding it. “He’s my boss. And even if he wasn’t, what I do with my personal life has nothing to do with you anymore. Isn’t that registering? How many times do we have to talk about this, Dan?”

He steps toward in and our bodies are merely inches apart. I turn my head away sharply when he tries to kiss me and give his chest a shove “Stop! What are you doing!

“You love me, Nicole!” he yells back I know you do So, why don’t you stop the damn pretending and tell me what you want from me already? I’ll change I’ll do whatever I can to change! Just forgive me already!”

“There’s nothing to forgive! I don’t want you anymore!”

And he does.

“You whore!” he yells before he fists my hair. I cry out, eyes burning from the sudden sharp pain in my scalp. I lose all control of my body, and he slams me against the wall hard enough for my ears to ring. “Bitch! Do you know how much I’ve given you?” Slam. “Do you know how much I loved you!?” Slam.

The taste of blood fills my mouth. I try to fight him back but he hits my head against the wall pretty hard, and I’m seeing stars at his point. His voice is also starting to fade. It’s muffled now.

Dan releases me and I sink to my knees. Directly after, he slams his foot against my lower back and the pain that takes over my body is blinding.

I hear my name being called, but the voices are more distant than they were before.

I collapse on my side, and the last thing I see before my vision fades to black is two pairs of feet shuffling in front of me.

Then, nothing.