Free Back to Life by Mellie George Page A

hands were warm and big; my
whole hand fitting inside his perfectly. He helped me off my chair and I said,
“Hey, you two, we’re going to wait outside. Come find us when you’re done
sucking face.” All I heard was a moan from Brody as we walked outside the bar. “So,
now that my brother and my friend have ditched me, what do I do now?” I asked.
    “Well,
you can hang out with me. I won’t bite. Not unless you beg,” he joked.
    “That’s
not likely, pal.” I laughed, and then sighed. “Hey, I’m sorry about being a
bitch before.”
    “Oh
you weren’t being a bitch. It’s okay.”
    “Yes
I was. If you hadn’t seen it, it’s because Marissa knew it was coming and saved
me from myself. It had nothing to do with you.”
    “So,
why don’t you tell me then?” he asked.
    “Come
on, you don’t want to hear about my problems on a Friday night.”
    “Actually,
I do. I want to get to know you, Rory. Believe it or not, I actually like you.
I think you’re awesome and I’d like to know you better. Tell me,” he prodded.
He likes me? Suddenly, I felt like a teenager, blushing about ten different
shades of red.
    I
looked down and sighed. “I thought they were trying to set me up with you. I
thought that’s why you were here.”
    “And
it bothered you that they wanted to set you up with me? Why? Is that a bad
thing?” he asked me softly.
    “No,
not a bad thing. I just…I have a lot going on in here,” I said, pointing my
index finger to my head. “Stuff I’m sure you don’t want to know about.”
    “I
bet you’re wrong. Try me,” he said. I realized we’d stopped at a bench outside
the club, and he motioned for me to sit.
    “You
might not look at me the same way,” I admitted. I can’t believe I was thinking
of telling something so personal and heartbreaking to a virtual stranger. I had
never been more afraid in my life.
    He
lifted my chin with his fingers, forcing me to look at him. “Nothing you could
say to me would make me think any less of you, Rory.”
    I
took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I wasn’t always like this, you know.
This bitchy, frigid woman. I used to be fun,” I said.
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.
I used to be happy. Four years ago, I had this boyfriend, and he was a lawyer.
His name was Mason Callahan.”
    “You,
with a lawyer? Really?” he smiled.
    “Yes,”
I said, nudging him in the ribs. “He was amazing. Cute, funny, and smart as
hell. He could match wits with just about anyone and if you disagreed with him
on something, give him ten minutes and you would totally be on his side,” I
laughed. “Now that I think about it, that’s probably how he got me to go out
with him in the first place.”
    “He
sounds pretty great. So, what happened?” he asked.
    My
hands started shaking. I have never said any of this out loud. I think it was
going to make it sink in…make it too final. Taking another deep breath, I
continued. “Well, he was up for partner at his firm, and one of the partners he
was trying to impress had him running around like a dog for her. He would get
her coffee, pick up her dry cleaning, and he would even pick her drunken ass up
at bars all the time instead of taking a cab. On the night of our one year
anniversary, we were out celebrating because...” I paused, trying to swallow
the huge lump in my throat, “because he’d just proposed to me.”
    Liam
was quiet as the night. “Ah,” he said, and waited for me to continue.
    “It
had been a fun night, and I was so happy that he asked me to marry him. He
always said he wanted to be married and have a bunch of kids and get a nice
house and a dog,” I snorted, smiling.
    “He
wanted kids so soon?” Liam laughed.
    “Oh
yes. Mason absolutely loved children.” I gulped again, and continued. “Well,
anyway, we were out celebrating when he got a call from that fucking bitch boss
of his to come pick her up again. He wanted to stay with me, but he also loved
his job. He was having a tough time