Chapter 5
Bri
As Hayden ran off, I sat down on the bench beside Lisa, the mom of a girl in Hayden’s class. The girls had schemed and worn us down until we’d agreed to do a playdate.
As soon as I stepped foot onto the mulch that covered the playground area and spotted Lisa, my stomach had dropped to my knees. It was the woman from the bathroom stall.
“Well, this is awkward,” she said.
I pursed my lips sympathetically. “Not at all.” I stuck my hand out. “My name is Bri. It’s nice meeting you for the first time ever.”
She gave me a grateful smile. “I’m Lisa, and single parenting and trying to date is incredibly difficult.”
I burst out laughing. “That is the stone-cold truth.”
We watched the girls play for a while. “So, what you’re pretending you didn’t see the other night was the first date I’ve gone on in months. And it was an epic fail.” She sighed and shook her head. “We tried to have a little, uh… well, you saw.”
I nodded. “I did.”
“But he couldn’t get into it.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “No, really?” This was interesting.
“Yes.” She leaned closer. “What you heard was him trying and failing.”
I tried not to let my jaw drag the ground. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope.” She sipped her coffee, which made me wish I’d stopped for one. “It’s been so long since I had an orgasm that I wasn’t responsible for.”
I couldn’t help but think about Jace and how I would’ve never expected that from him in a million years.
“Well, I haven’t dated since I divorced Damon,” I said. “I can’t relate. And I’ve been responsible for my own orgasm for my entire life. Having Damon didn’t help.”
We dissolved into giggles and the girls ran up. “What are you laughing about, Mommy?” Hayden asked.
That made us laugh even harder. “Nothing, baby. Or nothing you’ll need to worry about for an awfully long time.”
“Never, if you’re lucky,” Lisa quipped.
We laughed and waved the girls away.
“Remember, you’re more than just a mom,” Lisa said when we both calmed down. “You’re a woman, too. It’s okay to want companionship other than an almost seven-year-old.”
“I get where you’re coming from.” I crossed my legs and looked out at the kids playing. “I really do. But my heart isn’t into it yet. Damon really did a number on me. But I’m okay with where I’m at. When I’m ready, it’ll happen.”
“I mean, you don’t have to date to get things taken care of. Just do a good job picking out men, better than I did, anyway.”
That made us die laughing again, but my laughter was a little forced.
I felt bad for Jace and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been rude because he’d thought I realized what he’d gone through.
I wasn’t laughing at his personal problem, but more at how relatable it was that so many men were unable to bring women to orgasm when all they really had to do was listen to us to find out how to do it.
I also laughed because casual sex was such a foreign concept for me.
All I’d ever known was commitment. Being single had been freeing, really.
I loved the idea of getting into another committed relationship, this time with an actual good human being.
But the prospect of something without stress or strings did seem a tiny bit intriguing.
Lisa caught on to my small bit of interest. “If you’re ready, or when you get ready, I know a guy. ”
I smiled and nodded. “Okay. I’ll think about it. And you’ll be the first I tell.”
We let the girls play as long as we could stand sitting at the park shooting the breeze. “Want to take them for pizza?” Lisa asked.
Our town had a pizza buffet with an arcade. Hayden loved going there, especially if she had a little bit of pocket money. “Pizza Inn?” I asked.
Lisa grinned. “Is there anywhere else?”
We hauled the girls up, who complained like crazy until we told them where we were going. The restaurant wasn’t far from the park, and it took longer to get the girls’ hands washed than it had to drive from one place to the next.
As Hayden and Tori ate their pizza, I realized my phone was buzzing quietly in my pocket. I hadn’t heard or felt it in the loud atmosphere of the buffet. They always had music playing and gaudy lights. And given the lack of options in town, they were always booming with business.
I checked my phone to find the number said blocked.
My heart sank. I knew what that meant. Damn it. Only one person would call me and block their number.
I turned off my phone and muttered a curse under my breath which was swallowed by the music in the restaurant.
I knew the cycle. He’d keep calling until I eventually picked up.
I was going to have to change my number again; I’d lost count of how many times I’d had to do that.
I’d started giving out my parents’ number to important places like work and the doctor’s office.
No doubt he’d find a way to get a hold of their number too, if I didn’t answer this one.
But Hayden was having a great time, so I shoved my phone in my back pocket and smiled at her as she chattered at Tori about a new toy that was supposed to come out in time for her birthday. I logged it away for birthday shopping.
By the time the girls spent the money we allocated for them to spend in the arcade, the sun was starting to sink in the sky and Hayden had begun yawning big time. By then, my nerves were shot all to hell.
We walked out of the restaurant with the girls holding hands between us, already trying to talk us into spending the night with each other. “No,” I said as I laughed at them. “You’ve got school tomorrow. What in the world made you think we’d ever go for a sleepover?”
My voice faded as I stopped short. I slammed my hand down and gripped Hayden’s shoulder so she wouldn’t go any farther.
Damon stood beside my car, looking down at his phone.
Fear spiked in me, making the back of my neck tingle and my flight response came out.
I stepped forward and around my daughter, trying to stop Hayden from seeing him.
It would be far better if I got us out of this without confusing her with her father.
I wasn’t fast enough. “Daddy?” Hayden said in her shrill, loud tone.
His gaze jerked up from his phone and landed on us. Damon’s face split into a big grin and he strode forward. “I’ve missed you so much, puppy,” Damon said.
I moved again, fully in front of Hayden.
He shot me a glare when I blocked her. “Aren’t you going to come to hug your daddy?” he asked. Hayden peeked out from around me. Damon stopped in the parking lot and waited. “Hayden? Don’t you want to say hi to your father?”
She shook her head and ducked behind me again, shy. She knew how horrible he was. She didn’t really remember, but the sort of abuse she’d seen me suffer at his hands didn’t just go away in the psyche.
His face hardened. Damn it.
“What have you told her?” he said in a low voice. He was pissed. “This is your fault. You turned her against me.” He stepped to the side, trying to catch sight of Hayden again, and his voice came out sugary sweet. “I’ve missed you, puppy. I came so far to see you.”
Hayden stayed behind me.
“Should I call the cops?” Lisa asked. She spoke in a low tone. I didn’t even glance her way. I just nodded.
Damon moved toward us again.
“Please take Hayden back inside,” I said under my breath.
Lisa didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Hayden’s hand, but Hayden jerked it away. “No!” she shouted. “I’m staying with my mommy!”
“Do as you’re told, Hayden,” I said sharply. “Now!”
Hayden gave me big, hurt eyes. I loathed Damon all the more because I’d had to speak sharply with her. I didn’t have time to explain to her why it was better she be out of sight.
As soon as the door closed behind her, Damon went off.
“You stupid bitch!” He got much closer, but I didn’t go back toward the building.
I went sideways. I wanted him as far away from Hayden as possible.
“You’re such a dumb slut,” he seethed. “You turned my daughter against me. Everything that ever went wrong between us has been due to you. I can’t wait to see you get yours.
” His hands were clenched in fists, and I knew the pain of having those fists come at me.
I kept moving, relieved when he stalked after me, farther into the parking lot and away from our daughter.
“You are violating your restraining order,” I said. I didn’t engage with the names he’d called me. I’d learned it was better if I didn’t. Arguing with him further enraged him and then he took it out on me.
He laughed and kept stalking after me. “A piece of paper can’t keep me from my family.
You think you’ll ever escape me? I was an idiot when I signed the divorce papers.
I’m going to have you and our daughter back, Briana.
I have friends in high places. How do you think I found you?
Your family has all of their social media locked up tight. ”
My butt backed against a car. I didn’t know whose it was, but it meant I was fully in the parking lot and away from the building. I prayed Lisa had called the cops.
My stomach rolled with anxiety. I was trapped, physically by Damon and in theory. No matter where I tried to run, he’d find me.
My gaze darted around, and I realized people were watching in the parking lot. A few of them were talking on the phone. Surely the police were on their way.
“I’m going to hurt you again if you don’t stop your games and come home.” He moved closer and I jumped, terrified he’d hit me in front of all these people. I couldn’t put anything past him anymore. Sliding backward with my butt against the car, I put more space between us.
“Are you going to make me hurt you, Briana?” Damon asked as he closed the distance.
A warmth washed over me like a fan heater turned on that enveloped my entire body. Damon lunged at me, and then, miraculously, someone was in front of me, blocking Damon. How had this person moved so fast? One moment I was about to be choked, and the next, I was safe, just like that.