It All Started With A Payback

Eighteen: Any Guy But Him

"You slept with him." It was a statement.......filled with reproach.

Tori's face flushed both in embarrassment and resentment. Mark was supposed to be her bestfriend and here he was, looking at her and judging her as though she were a slut who slept with everyone within a three mile radius.  

It was completely unfair, Mark knew that most of the men she dated broke up with her because she wouldn't let them get physical with her.

One time Mark had to drag one of them by the collar because he overheard the guy call her a prudish ice queen.  It was lucky that he came home just in time, the guy seemed like the kind who wouldn't take no for an answer.

What little anger she felt toward her friend melted at the memory.  Maybe he didn't mean for it to sound as bad as it did.  He was just looking out for her like he always did.  

Her face softened and she stepped closer to him taking both of his hands in hers.

"Mark, " she looked imploringly at him, "You're my bestfriend, you know how much I loved him, still love him."

"We are talking about the same guy, right?"  He let go of her hands to imprison her face between his.  He didn't speak again until her eyes were focused on him.

"The same guy, who told everyone you were into BDSM a few weeks after he made you feel like you were the most undesirable girl he had ever laid eyes on," he said  bluntly.

She winced at the unfeeling way he summarized how her highschool romance with Louie turned into a nightmare.

"He told Wesley," she corrected firmly, removing his hands from her face.  "That I prefer men who can handle me, so the bastard would leave me alone."  Mark snorted in derision, she ignored him.  "Then the moron told everyone I was into BDSM.  Louie didn't even know what Wesley did."

He took her hands, pulled her close and wrapped her arms around his waist.  "All I know is that you ended up going through hell in highschool by yourself, because the man you are defending right now wasn't even there to protect you from his very own stupidity." He said resolutely.

"I wasn't alone.  You were always there beside me. You were the only person who didn't believe the nasty things they were saying about me." She said smiling up at him in gratitude, her arms tightening around him.

He leaned back away from her so he could stare into her eyes.  "Yeah, but I wasn't able to shield you from the pain he caused you."

She tucked her head under his chin,  "You didn't have to."

"Yes I did." He insisted.

"Why?"

He was silent for a long time so she looked up at him.

"Because....I...," he hesitated.  

Because he's in love with you.  She heard Louie's voice.  NO! She denied vehemently. Damn Louie he's putting silly ideas in my head!

"Because you're a good person and...and you hate the thought of people getting hurt." She said hurriedly, trying to answer for him.

Something passed over his eyes, sadness? Regret? Hurt?

"Yeah, something like that."  He said after a while.

"And that is why I'm telling you this.  Any guy Tori, any guy but him."

"But I don't want to be with anyone else.  I want to be with him."

He smiled tightly, "I knew you were gonna say that.  He hurt you once Tori.  What's gonna stop him from doing that again? After you've given yourself completely to him, I have a bad feeling that even if he does terrible things and hurt you endlessly you will still stay beside him."

She flicked his ear, "Mark, this is me! I'm hardly a martyr. Have you ever seen me take crap from anyone?"

"Well you did forgive him and let him steal your virtue more than a month after you saw him again." He countered, still rubbing the red spot on his ear.  She laughed at his antiquated choice of word.

He pushed her head against his chest and kissed the top of her head.  "Tori, in as much as I love you, I can't just standyby and watch you throw yourself away."

She pulled away from him and peered up at his face.  He was extremely serious and Tori felt a deep sense of loss. She knew what was coming next.

"I will just have a few more sittings with the Villareals, nice couple by the way. As soon as they realized I was lost, damn GPS was useless, they rushed to pick me up at the gasoline station ten municipalities away from where their farm was." 

She silently cursed Jon and Louie, Mark was letting her know he knew what they did to him and that he knew she  had knowledge of it.

Despite that, he didn't confront Louie. He didn't put her in a spot where she would have to take sides between him and her idiot of a boyfriend. 

How can she not love this man? She had known him almost all her life.  He was always there for her and even if he didn't approve of the guys she dated, he was always ready to cheer her up when they desert her. So yes, she loved him but not the way Louie feared.

He let her go and headed for the fridge.  He took out a bottle of beer and drained half of its contents.

"I'll just take their picture, make a few sketches, get their approval and I'll do the rest in New York while I'm waiting for Schaeffler," he was refering to the billionaire who asked him to make a portrait.  

"Why?"

He finished the remaining beer, rinsed the bottle and put it in the storage under the sink before he turned around to face her.

"Because I would just be in the way."  He gave her a sad smile and kissed her cheek.  He headed for the bathroom, leaving her wondering what he meant by that, and then later on, refusing to believe the answer her mind gave her.