DAMAGED - A Bad Boy Romance Read Online Free Page B

sperm, you know.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Nothing… just that there isn’t a problem. We just need to relax and--”
    “Jesus Christ, if one more person tells me to relax I swear I’ll scream,” she snapped.
    We walked down to the car in silence. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. We were good together. We had our house. We were meant to live in it together. None of this worked without her. Life would be all wrong. There were way too many rooms in that house, for a start.
    “I don’t want to fight,” I said lamely, starting the car.
    “So then, don’t, ” she said with a sneer.
    I didn’t like this nasty side of her. Not at all.
    We drove on in silence for a while, both feeling a little tender. I was always better at pretending fights weren’t going on than actually fighting them, so I relaxed a little as the car drove on, and we found a long, easy back road that would take us most of the way home.
    I love driving. I love the simplicity of being in a vehicle, any vehicle really. I love just going, just the movement of it. Tanya and I had had some of our steamiest moments in cars. That reminded me.
    “Hey, love! I forgot to say, I found the perfect thing for us, actually, a narrow boat cruise – we could maybe rent the whole thing pretty cheaply and then we sleep on it and everything, and we go up and down the river and we can have it self catering or not, it depends, and--”
    “We’re not going on a holiday,” she interrupted.
    Oh shit. She was still angry. From before. This was beginning to get exhausting.
    “Look, what is your problem? Have I done something wrong?”
    These words seemed to be the last straw for her, and she all at once and violently shook her wild hair and banged her hands against the car door.
    “Just stop! Stop the fucking car! I want to get out.”
    “What?”
    “Stop the car!”
    I slammed my foot on the break and tried to carefully guide us onto the roadside before turning off the engine.
    “Tanya, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, all I said was--”
    “But why do you have to say anything at all? Can’t you just leave me alone about it? Christ…”
    “What are you talking about? You’re crazy.”
    A look of pure fire flashed over her face.
    “Yes, yes, I know. Crazy. And stupid, right? Don’t bother telling me, I know. Sorry not all of us are so perfectly fucking rational . And now I can’t even have a baby, it’s fantastic.”
    Her chest was heaving in her thin cotton dress. She seemed flushed, only moments away from bursting into tears.
    “Hey… hey, I don’t think you’re stupid,” I said softly.
    She looked at me, nostrils flaring.
    “Why is this so hard ?” she said eventually.
    We sat there for a bit, both silently wondering if the other was blaming them for this weird mess we had gotten ourselves into. Her eyes were strange and unnervingly fluid. She had only had this particular look on her face once before, once many years ago, during a fight we had that I try not to think about anymore. They were melting eyes, eyes full of blame and accusation, and they tore at my heart to see them like that, and it hurt me so badly I couldn’t stand looking at her.
    She popped open the car door and stepped out suddenly.
    “Hey, where are you going?” I said, but she was gone.
    She was wearing one of her cotton sundresses again, except this particular afternoon wasn’t quite the right weather for it. Hot and dry wind blew at the skirt and started to lift it up, tossing some of her loose hair as well. I got out and stood looking at her over the roof of the car.
    What I loved about Tanya was precisely that she was so rational. That she never asked me to play weird guessing games with her emotions, or mocked me for being a bit slow on the uptake when it came to subtle social cues. Yet here she was, a moody wife that couldn’t be placated. I had no idea what to do.
    “Will you get back in the car?” I said.
    “Will you