His phone was sitting between us on the console, and it rang. I glanced over and saw Ashlyn’s name appear. Suddenly, my stomach tied itself in knots; I felt sick and I started to sweat. There was no way in fucking hell he was going to continue to talk to or see her. He pressed ignore and kept his head looking straight ahead at the road. She was someone I needed to know about, and it was not going to be painless, but Connor is mine now and he’s going to have to tell me the truth.

I took in a deep breath, “Who is she Connor?” I reached over and turned off the radio.

He heavily sighed, “I knew you were going to ask me?”

“Ok, then you need to tell me about her if we’re going to move forward.”

He took my hand and held it up to his lips, “I do not want to talk about her now Ellery, the car is not the place.”

“Fine, I’ll wait, and we’ll discuss her later. But whatever you tell me will be ok because things with us are different now and we’re putting all our baggage in the past, right?”

He looked over at me and smiled, “You bet we are.”

“I have a question for you,” I said as I took the wrapper off my Twix bar. “Denny told me that you’ve been different since you met me.”

He rolled his eyes, “Denny shouldn’t be telling things like that, but it’s true. I was intrigued by you the minute I saw you in my kitchen. When I woke up and heard someone in the kitchen, I walked downstairs to yell at whoever it was for being so loud. Imagine my surprise when I saw this beautiful stranger standing there making coffee.”

“Yes, but you yelled at me about your rules.”

He shrugged, “Well, I thought I brought you home from the club; I’m sorry about that.” I smacked his arm. He smiled as he looked at the road ahead.

“When you told me what you did for me and gave me quite the attitude, it was that moment I knew I couldn’t let you walk out of my life. Denny knew it to because I kept talking about you and I didn’t realize it.” I laughed and reached over to kiss his cheek, but instead shoved the Twix bar in his mouth.

We arrived in Michigan as I grew nervous to be back to a place that harbored such bad memories. Connor must have sensed it by my reaction. When I saw the Welcome to Michigan sign, he grabbed my hand and held it tight. My phone rang and it was Peyton calling.

“Hi Peyton,” I answered.

“Oh my god Elle, I just had to tell you about my fantastical date with Dr. Hottie last night.”

I started to laugh, “So, you did manage to get him to ask you out?” I put her on speaker so Connor could hear.

“No, I asked him out, and we went to dinner, then to a club and back to his place. Elle, he was phenomenal. He fucks like no one ever has before.” Connor looked at me and started laughing.

“Wow Peyton, that’s great,” I rolled my eyes.

“Seriously Elle, he made me do things I never thought of doing before and shit is he big. I was worried when I saw it that it wouldn’t fit inside me. Elle, I got nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to experience this hot man.”

Connors mouth dropped as he was in shock by Peyton’s openness. I was used to it, so it didn’t faze me.

“Peyton, sweetie, I have you on speaker and Connor heard every word you just said.”

“So, I have nothing to hide, maybe you two should try it. Live a little Connor, take that girl to bed and show her your sexiness.” I wanted to die right there, in the leather seat of Connors range rover.

He unexpectedly shouted, “I already did and she was amazing, she made me do things to her that even shocked me.” I hit him on the arm and shot him a look.

“Woo, you go girl, we’ll swap notes when you get back. I have to go, Dr. Hottie is summoning me back to bed,” she giggled.

I hung up and shook my head at him, “How could you tell her that?”

“Oh please love, like you haven’t embarrassed me before.”

I couldn’t argue with that, especially with the bartender at the restaurant and then the bellhop. I laughed and looked out the window at the all too familiar place I was heading.

We pulled into the funeral home and instantly, my stomach felt sick. I got out of the car and took a deep breath.

“This is the same funeral home we had for my mother and father,” I said as I stood in front of it.

Connor put his arm around me. “You don’t have to do this; you can call your cousin and tell her you got sick or something.”

“No, that’s the coward’s way out. I can’t escape reality. Besides, I have you with me.”

We walked through the doors. My cousin Debbie saw me and swiftly walked towards me as we hugged each other tight.

“I’m so sorry for your loss Debbie.”

She started to cry on my shoulder. “I know and I’m sorry for you to; I know they were like your surrogate parents growing up.

What happened?” She asked as she pointed to my stitches.

“It’s no big deal; I just fell and hit my head.”

I looked over at Connor, “Debbie this is my friend Connor.”

She shook his hand and then whispered to me, “I heard you and Kyle broke up, I’m sorry.”

I smiled, “I’m not, but thank you anyway.”

She led us to the room where my aunt and uncle laid in their beautiful wooden caskets. I walked over and kneeled down in front of them, praying to god to keep them safe. Connor stood behind me with his hands clutching my shoulders. I stood up and made my way through the crowd, saying hi to old friends and making small conversation with distant family. I could hear the whispers of people talking about my attempted suicide seven years ago. I could hear the pity in their voices.  The whispers went on about my dad; how he was an alcoholic and couldn’t stop drinking enough to raise his only daughter. They went on to say that if my mother was alive I would not have tried to take my life. I had become the center of attention at someone’s funeral, and I was starting to get pissed. Connor overheard the soft talks as he put his arm around me.

“Don’t listen to them; they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

I took in a deep breath, but couldn’t control myself any longer when I heard a woman say, “She’s the one who tried to commit suicide to save herself from her alcoholic father. He was too wrapped up in the death of her mother to even realize she existed. She should have been taken away from him and then she wouldn’t have tried to…”

Before she could finish her sentence, I rudely interrupted her, “Who the fuck do you think you are talking about my father and family like that?”

I pushed my wrists in her face, “Here, see the scars. That’s right, take a good look at them, it wouldn’t have mattered if they took me away or not, they would still be there.”

The whole room was standing in silence staring at me. Connor grabbed my hand, “Come on baby let’s go. It’s not worth it.” I turned as he led me out of the funeral home. The cold air cooled my burning skin.

“I must say, you can put on quite a show,” Connor smiled to lighten my mood.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t take anymore; I knew this was going to happen if I came back here.”

He held me and whispered, “Its ok, you’ve said your goodbyes to your aunt and uncle, you told off a few people, and now we can go; unless you want to stay?”

I shook my head, “No, let’s get out of here.”

We hopped back into the Range Rover as Connor searched for hotels on his GPS. “If you’re looking for luxury then I suggest the Athenuem Suite Hotel.”

He looked over at me and smiled, “Funny; that’s what my phone is telling me. I can reserve the Presidential Suite right here online.” He did just that and then took my hand. “Where do you want to go?”

I brought his hand to my lips and gently kissed it. “I need to go visit my mom and dad’s grave; it’s not too far.”

He punched the address in his GPS as we headed toward the cemetery. I asked if we could make a quick stop at the flower shop so I could pick up some flowers.