Chapter 47: Something sexual, not love
1022words
I set Dakota's meds on the counter and quietly made my way into the dining room where I could hide behind the curtains and hear them better.
"You don't have to live like that, Dakota," Lynn stated.
Dakota's sigh floated into the dining room as I waited for her reply.
"It's hard to leave. I've tried in the past but Lex won't let me go."
"I've been in your shoes before, Dakota. The men in our lives only have power when we give it to them.
"The longer you stay with him, the more power he will have. You don't deserve to be hit by any man. You have a brother willing to help you out. I didn't have that. You can and should leave him."
Every hair on my body stood at attention at her words. Lynn's words haunted me as I tried to figure out what she meant by them.
"I can't help but notice how you seem to speak from experience, Lynn."
Dakota had the same thoughts as me and I loved her for saying that because I need to know what lynni past is. Her friend Luis has said some things that raised some questions and I never had the guts to ask her about them. Then there was that night in the diner when those men came in and her demeanor completely changed. Something dark has happened to her, that much was obvious.
"Yeah," Lynn sighed, "before I came here to Florida, I was living in Seattle with my husband Jason. We were highschool sweethearts and had been together for years. After college, we got married and tried to have children but when I couldn't get pregnant, he seemed to change. He began to drink a lot and one night he hit me when I confronted him about his drinking. He'd get so angry with me."
Married? Children? He hit her?! I felt light-headed listening to her speak and I almost felt like I shouldn't be listening to this right now but I couldn't stop now.
"I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, blaming the drinking for his aggression, but then it only got worse. He belittled me and eventually separated me from my friends and family. I was all alone and stayed with him, hoping that he'd turn back into the guy I was so madly in love with,"
"When did you finally say enough was enough?" Dakota asked.
Lynn laughed. "I finally walked away when he put me in the hospital. I told him that if he didn't stop drinking that I was going to leave him. He didn't like that very much and he hit me again. He wouldn't stop....." Lynn's voice became haunted and it took everything I had not to demand where that prick was. I wanted to strangle that mother fucker for putting his hands on Lynn. "Then I remember waking up in the hospital three days after the argument. He nearly beat me to death.
"Oh my God!" Dakota breathed. "I'm so glad you got away."
"Ha," lynn scoffed out, "I may have gotten away distance wise, but he will never leave me alone. I'm still haunted by him everyday and night. I promised myself that I would live for myself for a while. That's why I came out here Florida. I wanted to be as far away from Jason as I could get."
"I understand that," Dakota replied. "Thank you for telling me your story."
"I hope it helps you make the right decision, Dakota. I'd hate to see you end up in the hospital before you realize that you should have walked away well before then."
The anger rolling off of me right now was like lava. I never in a million years would have guessed that Lynn was married to a monster. Now I get why she only wanted something sexual with me. At the time, that's all I wanted too, and still do. Fuck, maybe I want more but after hearing about her past, I could never ask her to stay with me. I would never lay a hand on Lynn or put her through anything like her ex husband, but I couldn't give her the life she deserved either.
Needing to step away, I moved and accidentally kicked a chair.
"Drake? Is that you?" Dakota called out.
Fuck. I took off running toward the kitchen, circled the island, and then loudly tossed my keys on the counter before I walked back toward the dining room as if I had just gotten in.
"Hey, there you two are....." I trailed off, looking guiltily between them.
"I like this girl," Dakota stated, standing to her feet before she came toward me and took my hand. She pulled me toward Lynn and sat me down right next to her.
I don't know what Dakota was playing here, but she needed to chill out.
"We were just talking about...." Dakota trailed off when she looked at Lynn, making me look at her too.
"We were just talking boys," Lynn replied, glaring at Dakota and I knew what that glare was for. it was evident that Lynn didn't want me to know about this Jason guy and I couldn't blame her. She was keeping secrets from me just as much as I was keeping from her.
"Are you girls hungry? I can make up a batch of my chicken Alfredo."
"You cool? Lynn asked, surprised.
Dakota laughed. "Oh, he can cook, all right."
"I can do lots of things you don't know about," i teased Lynn before internally scolding myself for flirting with her after what I had just heard. My plan was to tell Lynn the truth tonight, hoping she was smart enough to run while half hoping she wouldn't. I am seriously fucked up.
