Jessica was broke. Of course, they had sex. Once she found someone closer who could satisfy her more regularly, it probably didn’t take them long to climb into bed together. A smile crept across my face as I enjoyed watching the juxtaposition of me forcing her down into the bed with one hand pressed firmly against her back while I pulled on her hair with the other. “I don’t know. She was a lovely woman with a sweet disposition who just so happened to be married to a steelworker who made beating his wife a pastime when he wasn’t beating metal. Had my love been a freaking placeholder? I imagined proposing to her when she finished moving here.”
“Damn, dude,” he said. I sat up straight. I thought it was for her as well. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Were you?”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. Jess relied on me for most of the financial burden of long-distance dating. “Jack,” I said, “don’t let her steal anything expensive.” Without another word, I opened the front door and walked out.
