"My husband is mean," she responded, the smile slipping off her face. Of course she remembered that she didn't usually like to talk about her past with even her family, let alone some guy she met a couple months ago--virtually a stranger, despite the time they'd spent together. Sasha knew things about Nikolai, that he was a werewolf from Bulgaria and his brother was a famous Quidditch player, but he didn't know much about her. He knew she had a father named Joe, and two younger brothers named Fitz and Ric, but not much else. She didn't really want people knowing more than that. Usually.
Tonight, between the alcohol and the fact that she did like him against her better judgment, she didn't really remember why that distance was so important. Nikolai wouldn't hurt or control her. He was good. Jimmy was good too, at first. Until he wasn't.
"He doesn't like when I drink or talk to my dad or leave the house." She still had a drink in front of her when Nik sat down, but it didn't last long after she started talking. Maybe if she drank enough, she'd forget that she'd have to spend the next five years shackled to the man who had tried, on more than one occasion the previous year, to hold her under house arrest because she wouldn't abide by his rules.