Page 43 of Broken Love

I plop down onto the couch in the living room, once again scanning the unfamiliar surroundings of their quiet, yet echoey, home.

“We got married,” I say.

There’s a long, heavy pause.

“It’s been two hours…”

“No—” I shake my head. “Not today. Before.”

“Yeah.” He chuckles. “I know, Box.”

I raise a brow. “You know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“How did you know?”

“I worked for the most dangerous criminal organization in the world. I had more than enough means to check in on you two every so often.”

“I feel so violated…” I joke.

I spot a familiar picture nestled in a frame on a short end table across the room. I push off the couch and wander over to get a better look.

“Two years ago. Right after you died…” I mutter. “They shipped us both back home and they dropped us off at the airport in Vegas, of all places….” I chuckle. “I thought it was a sign. She thought I was an idiot, but she said yes anyway.”

I grab the frame, overwhelmed with crippling nostalgia at the desert sand surrounding the three of us. It’s a silly photo — completely unprofessional given the setting — but I can think of plenty of times overseas when that was the norm. Fox stands in-between me and Caleb with his arms wrapped around our shoulders, holding the three of us together like he always did.

“I dunno, without you around, we just kind of panicked. Needed something to cling to, so we chose each other.”

“Why didn’t you tell anybody?” he asks.

I set the frame back down. “Three days later, she kicked me out. Three days after that…” I sigh. “I haven’t seen her since.”

“You’re still married?”

I smile. “Technically, yeah. She wanted to divorce, but… I’ve been avoiding that.” He says nothing as I roam the room with restless feet. “Fox, I need to ask you something. It might sound weird but just bear with me…”

“Go ahead.”

“What are you scared of? Like — worst-case scenario, worst nightmare you can think of. What is it?”

“Well, that’s easy,” he says, his voice low.

“Dani?”

“Yeah. Losing her — or even worse…” He pauses. “Even worse would be the thought of putting her through losing me… again.”

“But still, you stay with her even though you know that could happen any day now?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve cheated death once already,” he answers. “That doesn’t happen twice.”

I bite my lip. “Right…”

“Box, we don’t get a lot of time in this world,” he says. “Especially people like us. You live the life you can while you can.”

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