Page 157 of Unleashed

Simone giggles but then frowns. “He picked on me, but I’m glad I saw him. It’s been a while. Sometimes, he beats Finn at being my favorite brother.” Damn. I like the guy already.

“I told Beau I’d take pictures,” Jack says, still watching Simone holding my hand.

Simone says, “Greg is sitting with Dad for the ceremony. I have to put on my cap and gown. Mom, please hold my purse and sit on that side of the gym. I don’t want you around Dad. Please. Do this for me.”

“Okay, sweetheart. I won’t argue,” Julie says. She kisses her mom and Jack and then turns to me as her parents watch.

She grabs my hand again. “Thank you for being here.” She leans to my ear and whispers, “Please keep my father away from them if possible.”

I nod and kiss her cheek. “Break a leg or whatever.”

Simone smiles but glances at her parents before taking the flight of stairs crowded with other grads. I clear my throat and prepare to leave one snake pit for another. “I guess I’ll see you later, Julie.”

She says, “Wait, Greg. I have to know what happened to you and Simone. You were perfect together.” Her eyes water, and I resist rolling my mine.

“We thought it’s what we wanted, but she didn’t think so.” Shit. I didn’t mean to throw Simone under the bus.

Julie’s face brightens. “Simone loves you. She always has. You are such a perfect couple. Please give it another try.”

Jack puts his hand on Julie’s shoulder. “I don’t think Greg wants us to dictate his love life, even if it’s with Simone.” That’s for damn sure. I could say the same thing to Julie about Jack, but I won’t.

“We... I don’t know what will happen. I gotta get to my seat.” I turn from them, feeling railroaded, but for real, like my grandmother.

Simone isn’t in love with me. She proved that by running away from Durham. There’s nothing to fix.

When I find my seat right before the ceremony begins, Simone’s father looks at me like I’m a douche for pilfering his space. “I thought maybe you changed your mind,” he says, a little too disappointed.

“Nope. I’m here for my wife.” I twist my ex-wedding ring, but it twists me more.

The graduates proceed into the gym in different colors, but I only care about the people wearing black. Pomp and Circumstance fills the gym, and I think about Simone’s plans for the future. She’ll be in Delaware while I’m in law school here. There’s no future for us, so her mother needs to get that shit out of her head.

“Speaking of your wife, Mr. Rodwell, have you decided?”

I see Simone toward the end of the line, which strikes me as weird. “Have you increased the offer?”

“Fifteen thousand.”

I suck air between my teeth as I look at the ceremony pamphlet, seeing Simone’s name. Something isn’t right here. She’s in a different place in the lineup. “I think you need to dig deep, considering what you want me to do, and price it accordingly.”

“You’re extorting me.”

I laugh. “No, no. You made an offer for me to leave Simone. I’m negotiating. Nothing illegal about that. I want twenty-five thousand.” Dicklick.

“That’s impossible. I knew you were opportunistic, but that is outrageous.”

I shrug. “Whatever. I guess that means she’ll be the mother of my kids. Isn’t that cool?”

Dr. Asswad looks at me like I grew horns. Maybe I did.

“What would Simone think if I told her you wanted that much money to leave her?”

“Probably the same as you offering me money to leave her.”

We sit in silence until they announce the undergrads’ names, and they cross the stage. Her father looks at the program, squinting his eyes. “They listed Simone as Garrison. I thought she took your last name? They did not announce her as Rodwell, either.” No, she didn’t. There’s no way. I cover my mouth with my fist to hide my laugh.

I smile, shaking my head. “Maybe she got in line late.”

Simone looks around the crowd, waving at someone on the other side of the gym. Probably her mother and Jack. She then turns toward our side and scans the crowd. I crane my neck so she sees me, and when she does, a bright grin lights up her face. She waves and blows a kiss. I blow one back at her, making her father grumble. Fucker. I’m doing this shit for free, but his annoyance is paying dividends.

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