Jesse's POV
May
I saw all of the blood drain from Susannah's face when she turned and caught sight of the man walking toward us. He was attractive, with curly brown hair and tan skin, but there was a coldness in his blue eyes. He was about an inch or two below my own height, and about as muscular as I was. I noticed that Susannah began to tremble as he got closer.
Almost instinctively, I pulled her closer to myself. I wanted to protect her, from whatever I could. I hardly knew her, but that didn't stop me from wanting to keep her safe. Instead of resisting, as I'd assumed she would, she accepted my comfort, leaning into me. "What do you want, Paul?" she asked tiredly.
Slater glanced at me briefly before saying to Susannah, "Look, I just want to talk to you." He was talking softly, as though to a scared horse. "You kinda took off before I could really say anything. And you've been ignoring my phone calls and emails."
"That's because I don't want to hear your stupid excuses." She narrowed her green eyes at him.
He sent her a charming smile, trying to smooth things over. "Babe, just…come on. Hear me out. Let's go somewhere and talk, just you and me. We can work this out."
"No. Paul, I don't want to work things out. I'm done with you. We're over. And don't call me babe. Leave me alone."
"Suze," he said, wrapping his hand around her wrist. "Don't be like this."
"Excuse me," I interrupted coldly. Fury began to build in me at the sight of him touching her. Could he not see how upset she was? Or did he just not care about her feelings at all? "I believe that she told you to leave her alone."
He sneered at me. "Yeah? She's my fiancée, so I don't see how it's any of your business."
"It is my business, because I'm her –" Before I could inform him that I was her boyfriend, though I wasn't quite sure if it was true, Susannah shrieked his name.
I didn't see her move, though I did feel her pull away from me, but Paul was doubled over only an instant later, holding himself in a very sensitive area. "Don't you dare, Paul," she growled at him. CeeCee was looking at her with pride in her eyes. Adam looked a little stunned. And the woman who had approached us looked like she had never seen such a sight before. "I am not your fiancée, not anymore. I thought I made that perfectly clear when I threw the damn ring at your head, right after I caught you cheating on me, in our bed."
"Suze," he wheezed, still doubled over. She must have kicked him hard. I can't truthfully say that I felt sorry for him. I was, surprisingly, a little proud of Susannah myself. I would normally never wish that kind of pain on a man, but I found that I was glad she had kicked him. He deserved the pain. "Why are you so emotional about it? It was one freaking time –"
"So you say. You do realize that I don't believe that for a single second, right? How many other women have you seen behind my back?"
"None. I -"
"Whatever, Paul. You're only saying that because I haven't found out about the others. That's why you weren't really in a rush to start making wedding plans, isn't it? Because you were cheating on me. I don't even know why you bothered proposing, honestly."
"Suze -"
"Do you know why I was home early that day? Why I wasn't out for the weekend, like I was supposed to be? I was pregnant, Paul! With your baby! I came home to tell you about the miscarriage I had just had, not even an hour before that." I froze. She had told me about Paul's infidelity, but nothing about a baby or a miscarriage. It was no wonder she was so sad sometimes. She had suffered even more than I had thought. "We are over. I never want to see your face again."
She tugged on my arm, pulling me toward the door. I couldn't blame her for wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. Besides, I wanted to talk to her.
"And just where the hell do you think you're going?"
Susannah opened her mouth to speak, but I did it first. I turned toward Slater and said, "That's nothing that you have a right to know, Paul Slater. She's not with you anymore and you need to accept that. Now leave my girlfriend alone." This time, when I said it, I knew that that's what she was to me. We still needed to discuss it, but I wanted to be with Susannah. It seemed that I kept learning something about her that proved more and more just how strong she is. I admired her strength.
Susannah and I left the school. We stood beside her car in the parking lot, quiet. I politely gave her a moment to compose herself. Then Susannah said, "Thanks. And I'm really sorry about making you pretend to be my boyfriend. That was probably really awkward for you, and I'm sure that you don't like me like that. I don't want you to feel pressured or anything, so I'm...I'm sorry." She scrubbed at her eyes, muttering, "Damn dirt."
"Susannah." She looked up at me, and that was when kissed her.
