Page 16 of Forever Fighting
Me: Maybe somewhere in between all of that. Thanks, gentlemen.
Hayes: Don’t thank us yet. But we’re happy for you, man. Truly, we are. You and Braelyn belong together.
Me: We’ll see if she agrees. I already know Adam doesn’t.
With that, I stare at my phone, lean my hip against the island in my kitchen, and take a sip of coffee. I pull up my chat stream with him.
Me: Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.
He doesn’t reply by text. Instead, my phone rings in my hand.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you,” I repeat as I answer.
He sighs into the phone. “I can’t. I messed up.”
Shit. He sounds completely broken. Fuck. My conscience iseating at me. Hardly a new thing, but I wouldn’t mind a reprieve for once.
“What were you thinking?”
He chuckles mirthlessly. “For the past few months, as the wedding drew closer, I was… panicking a bit. I’ve only been with four girls and Braelyn is one of them. I wasn’t going to do anything about it. It was just something sticking in my head that I figured I’d get over. But there’s this woman at work. She’s been after me pretty aggressively since she started here a year ago.”
“And you don’t think that’s because of your money? Or that she’s seeking to blackmail you?” Adam’s family owns a network in New England with nationwide syndications. Part of this network provides access to Boston Rebels games and other sports teams. They’re big money and Adam is next in line.
“She’s married and made it very clear her husband can never find out. Maybe she wanted to be my mistress, but I think she was just after sex. A few weeks ago, she cornered me in the garage at work and sucked me off. I felt horrible after. Like I threw up and told Brae I had a last-minute work trip because I couldn’t go home and look at her.”
I rub a hand across my forehead and take a sip of coffee because I don’t know what to do or say. I’m furious with him, and there’s no excuse for what he did.
“Why didn’t you show up here for her? You knew she’d come to me.”
He sighs but doesn’t answer.
“You’re a fucking pussy,” I bite out. “Who were you more afraid of, her or me?”
“I fucked up. I didn’t know what I’d say to her. What can you say to the woman you love after she walks in on you like that?”
“I don’t know. But you still should have tried.”
I blow out a fragmented breath. I’m his friend, and he stuckby my side during the worst time of my life. He did so without judgment or blame, and part of me feels as though I owe it to him to return the favor.
Even to my own detriment.
“But it continued with that woman?” I ask, redirecting us.
“Yeah,” he says slowly. “It continued. A few more times after that, and then yesterday happened.” He makes a noise and then coughs. “I’m going to lose Braelyn.”
My eyes close, and everything inside me seizes up. “I don’t know.”
“She’s moving her stuff out.”
“I know. We’re moving her in here.”
“Where in there?”
“Fuck you, asshole.” I practically slam my coffee mug down on the marble. “You have no right to ask that question. She’s going into the guest room where she always sleeps.”
He blows out a harsh breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that. I’m really fucked up with this. I can’t lose her. I don’t know what I’ll do if that happens. I’m already going crazy.”
My elbows plant into the stone, and I press my forehead into one of my hands and stare down at the gray and white.
