Wasted – Epilogue – All Of Him

I knew what would happen.

That’s the part people never understand.

They imagine you don’t see it coming.

I did.

I knew which words would change his face.
Which look would make his jaw tighten.
Which little push would finally make him stop pretending I wasn’t getting to him.

Sometimes I stopped.

Sometimes I kept going.

Because when Dane was angry, I had all of him.

His eyes.

His hands.

His attention.

Nothing existed outside that room.

Not his phone. Not work. Not whatever else had been more important five minutes earlier.

Me.

Just me.

And afterward, when everything went quiet again, there was always the same question.

“You knew better, didn’t you?”

I did.

That was what made it easier.

If I knew better, then I’d made a choice.

If I’d made a choice, then what happened next wasn’t something done to me.

It was something I’d earned.

And back then, I found that strangely comforting.

Because I’d already spent years believing I owed the world something.

Dane was just the first person who knew how to collect.