“You’re one strong-as-fuck woman.” The admiration in her tone summoned shame that dripped through Kelly like wet paint. She didn’t deserve any of that. If she’d been strong, she wouldn’t have still been dating Natalia. She would’ve broken up with her the moment the barbs began. The moment those sharp touches started, not often to leave bruises but to sting. The moment Nat slung a vase to the floor, the first of many casualties to her temper. Instead, she’d stayed. She’d stayed even as her apartment had begun to feel like a prison.
