All Chapters of Bad Decision, Great pleasures : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Grace “Your smile's fake.”I stared at my reflection for what had to be the hundredth time since Sunday.“You smile with your lips... not with your eyes.”I smiled.The girl in the mirror smiled back. I glanced at my eyes and I almost didn't recognize those cold orbs staring back at me.He was right.I hated that he was right.Who even says something like that to a complete stranger?That man was weird. I had no idea why I was still thinking about him.I'd heard rumors from the first day he showed up in church. Some said he had spent over a decade in prison. Some said he killed someone. Some said he was dangerous.All that talk was why I didn't approach him from the first Sunday. I thought I'd never see him again. Because what exactly would someone like him come to find in a church?Except of course, the rumors weren't true. He kept showing up.Zeke.Such a short name for someone who occupied so much space in my head.I tried smiling again, my lips stretching so wide they began to hu

The drive home was painfully quiet.Dad drove. Mum looked out the window. I sat at the back seat, staring at my lap and willing my hands to stop trembling.No one spoke until we reached home.Dad switched off the engine but he didn't get out. We didn't leave either. One of the many unspoken rules of this house.When he looked at me through the rearview mirror, I wanted to sink into the seat.“I don't want to see you around that man again.”The words landed heavily.I frowned. “Why?”“He isn't good company.”“You don't even know him.” I defended, my emotions working faster than logic.“And you do?” He demanded, his eyes darkening with the anger I had gotten so familiar with.I swallowed the words on my tongue.“I know enough, Grace.” He stated. “Stay away from him.”I know I should have stopped talking. I should have let the conversation die but something inside of me could not let this go without defending Zeke.Or trying to, at least.Which was funny because I didn't even know the ma

Grace“My sister used to flinch too.” Zeke's voice drifted through the speaker.I froze, my breath catching on my throat.“She married someone who apologized after every bruise. She forgave him each time and slowly, I watched my sister lose her life while still alive.”I swallowed.There was a long pause, the room felt way too quiet.Zeke exhaled in his voice note, heaviness etched seamlessly into the sound.“I begged her to leave but she wouldn't. Maybe I didn't try hard enough. Maybe she couldn't see what he was doing to her but I did, and I couldn't take it.” He cleared his throat. “He hit her this one time and she called me crying. I lost it. I went over to hers, stopped the asshole from leaving like he always did and I hit him back. I didn't stop even when my sister begged me to. I didn't stop… until he stopped breathing.”My hand around the phone tightened.He clicked his tongue. “Uh… I'm sorry about the gory details. I'm not proud of what I did. Maybe if I had done things diffe

EzekielMorning sunlight had no business looking that peaceful. It slipped through the curtains in thin golden lines, settling across the bed like nothing had changed.Everything had.I opened my eyes slowly. For one terrifying second, I thought I'd imagined her, until I felt the warmth tucked against my side.Grace.She was asleep with one hand curled around my waist, her breathing slow and even, as though this was the first time in years she'd slept without fear.I smiled before I even realized I was doing it.Carefully, I brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.The bruise was still there. The sight of it stole every ounce of happiness I'd woken up with.I wanted to remember this morning. Instead, all I could think about was the man who had put that mark there.One day, I promised myself. One day she'd look in the mirror and forget who put it there.Grace stirred.Her eyelashes fluttered before those warm brown eyes found mine.Her gaze was calm and filled with affection,

I watched her disappear through the staff door and immediately regretted every decision I'd made in the last five minutes.Why did I ask her?Who invited their waitress to drink with them?She probably thought I was pathetic.Or worse...She was probably back there telling every other waitress about the lonely woman whose boyfriend forgot Valentine's Day.Fantastic.I stared at the two wine glasses I'd already poured.One for me, one for her. Assuming she was actually coming back.Three minutes passed, my patience running thin. Then five. I sighed, reaching for my handbag.Of course she wasn't coming back.Why would she?“You were really going to leave without me?”I looked up so quickly I nearly knocked my glass over.There she was.She'd changed. The apron was gone, so was the ponytail.Dark curls rested around her shoulders now, and without the restaurant uniform she somehow looked even prettier, less like someone serving tables and more like someone who belonged on the other side