A Tiny Favour

Chapter 34

Fucking hell. This is what I get for think- ing dating was a good idea. Put yourself out there and get your heart ripped from your chest with zero heads up.

When we were kids the worst thing that could happen is scraping your knee. I have a dead father. When you're a teenager the worst case scenario is being left out of your friends' fun. I had no real friends, not even at tennis, they thought I was too much of a threat.

And now in university I thought nothing worse than what I've put up with could happen. I was very wrong. Walking into a room where the girl I might love is snuggled up with a guy while I'm standing here with food and flowers after one of her people died is heart wrenching.

I toss the bouquet of flowers I brought her onto her entrance table along with her apartment keys. A few of the white and periwinkle blue petals fall off but I don't care. "Come here, Sadie," I called. My dog bounds over and I hook her collar and pull her out with me.

"Who the hell are you?" the strange guy yells grabbing at Sadie's leash. I tug back.

"None of your business and this is my dog let go," I demand and take Sadie off the ground. Isabelle is running over looking guilty and concerned. Great! Who doesn't love their girlfriend looking guilty with another guy. "Who the hell are you?"

"Brice let the dog go, it's his," he turns to her and lets the leash drop, she listens to her. Must be wrapped around her baby finger like I was thirty seconds ago.

I've never cared to get my packing done and my schedule free more than I did tonight. I wanted to be there for her when she was crying after Edwin's death. I don't know her that well considering we've spoken a maximum of two dozen times over the past few months but from what I've gathered she is amazing. She reminds me of my grandmother, and can picture having her around is comforting especially with Isabelle's mother always running off.

"Adam it's not what it looks like," she shakes her head and tries to grab my arm.

I jerk back and keep her from keeping me here for a second longer. My heart has both stopped in my chest and picked up to a thousand beats a minute.

This guy she was just snuggled up to on her little love seat is glaring at me in a protective way.

"Adam," she says again, her voice is beginning to rise and I can see her getting more anxious. "It literally is not what it looks like."

"Oh really Isabelle?" I scoff and shake my head, "because it looks like you're snuggled up on the couch with a guy watching your favourite movie. On a night you knew I would be busy and likely wouldn't make it over." I run a shaky hand through my hair and take another step backwards.

"Your bitchy friend Dianna propositioned me multiple times, it sucks knowing if i had taken her offer it would have meant nothing to you! I have been nothing but supportive and I've been trying so fucking hard to be a good boyfriend and go the extra step to be there for you. I couldn't even imagine going out with someone else but you obviously can, and are!"

"It's hard for me, okay! I am not used to this and you clearly arent either if your fucking some idiot named brice!"

"Ay Man shut your mouth," Brice takes a lunging step closer to me and pushes Isabelle back behind him to get a good look at me. "Don't talk shit about her, you don't even know what's going on! Hear her out."

"Adam, let's talk, it's really not what you're thinking," she has the audacity to give this guy a reassuring glance while I'm drowning in refgerty.

When people are asked if they'd give up all the good moments to forget the bad ones and they say no, I think they're crazy. No matter how many cute dates we went on and how much good sex we had would not make this worth it. Nothing on this planet could convince me to go through this again.

Maddie thought i'd fuck this up but really im getting fucked over and shes cheating on me. Is this why she flipped her phone over when I walked downstairs last night? Was she hiding her messages with this guy?

When i was all worried about her going off and hooking up with mister med school bartender Blake should i have been anticipating some other dude.

"I'm sorry to break this to you man," I give a small attempt at an apologetic look to the six foot stranger in front of me. He's attractive enough but not even close to Blake, if i wasn't in this situation i wouldn't have felt threatened. "But Isabelle has I guess been two timing both of us. If you've been dating for a while it sucks to be you," I turn on my heel and go to shut the door before getting a second wind of confidence.

She's stepped in front of Brice and he's just watching in awe, his mouth slightly parted and eyebrows knit together. He doesn't seem mad at her in the slightest, i assume he knows that she was seeing another guy and was cool being the guy she called up when she needed to fuck. "You have nothing to worry about, I'm not sleeping with brice," she shakes her head.

"Making out with him I don't care about the details for the moment," I put my hand up to stop either of them from interrupting me. "I thought you were my end game Isabelle," I'm on the verge of tears but I'm not crying. I didn't cry when my dad died, when I got second in the biggest tournament of my life, or in any other bad moment. I'll be damned if I cry over some girl I've known for two months.

"I thought one day I'd bring you to Italy and show you to my grandparents, they would've loved you. I thought one day we'd get a place together and get married. I don't know if you saw kids in our future but I did. I wanted to teach them how to read at night with you in our house and play tennis in our driveway." I'm practically screaming, my voice shakes and I want to smash my fist into the wall. Being open is usually hard but now the words just flow from my mouth.

"I fucking love you!" I say, daring to look at her face and read her reaction. Her defensive look has softened and her face is completely blank staring back at me, her chest isn't rising with air and I think I've shocked her. Good. she's just as surprised as me that i said that.

"And me. Us. meant nothing to you, you just went and stepped all over this relationship," I move my arms around me to signify us.

A tear is escaping her eye and I want to pull her close and comfort her but I can't. She's not mine to protect and comfort anymore.

I can't look at her anymore and my eyes stray to the rest of her room. Her bed is half made like usual and all the other doors are shut. On the stone island there's a plastic bag with the closest Thai food restaurants logo on it with two empty and open styrofoam cups.

I bring my head back to her and her lip is quivering, "this doesn't mean nothing to me, Adam," she takes a step closer and brice grabs her shoulder from behind, keeping her back.

"Keep your girlfriend close, brice," I practically spit out at him while stepping into the door frame. "Fuck both of you, have a nice life together," I take the final step out of her apartment and into the hallway when he goes stalking at me.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that you piece of fucking shit," Brice pins me to the wall behind me and i quickly shove him off.

"Get the hell away from me," I stumble off the wall and closer to the elevator but he doesn't let off.

"Brice relax and get back in here," Isabelle is crying now, I hear it in her plees and over her shoulder I see tears running down her cheeks.

"Not now," he growls back, taking a swing at my face and knocking me right below my left eye. I put my hand to the spot briefly before swinging back at him.

I hook him in his jaw and he lets out a pained groan. My dad taught me tennis, but he also taught me how to punch before he died. "A mans gotta know how to defend himself" he always told me, usually in Italian though.

I flip him around until he's the one in the position he just had me in, trapped against a wall. I'm heavier and bulkier than him so he can't push me off.

I push his shoulders into the drywall and snicker, "You're going to tell me not to call my girlfriend a cheater when I catch her cuddling up with someone else?"

"Adam," Isabelle comes up from behind me and uses all her tiny body to try and pull me away from him. She's sobbing and I can hear her choking between cries. "Please, that's my brother," she begs and I freeze.

Her brother?