Page 15 of His Naive Wife

“But I thought?—”

“Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter what you think,” he scoffs. “All that matters is what I get. Can’t believe I have to spell that out to you.”

“But Dylan…”

I move closer to him hoping that the Dylan I thought I knew would show up. I put my hand on his arm, desperately hoping that the man I once thought would rescue me appears.

“Get the fuck away from me,” he says.

He slaps my hand away, then shoves me back. I trip backward over one of the table feet and start falling, but I never land. Strong hands catch me, and when I look up at my rescuer, I see familiar blue eyes.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks.

“Alex?” I whisper.

Before I can gather my thoughts, Alex punches Dylan on the nose, making it gush.

Dylan falls back off the bench. His hands cover his nose. He’s shrieking, but I don’t care what he says anymore.

“Don’t ever talk to my wife again,” he says before throwing money at Dylan. “Get yourself cleaned up. You’re an embarrassment.”

Alex turns around and walks past me. I follow in awe. Not only was my father right about Dylan, but he was right about Alex, too.

My heart is thumping so loudly in my chest that I think everyone can hear it. Is this what love feels like? This feels warm, comfortable, and safe. Like a warm blanket on a cold day. It’s nothing like what I felt with Dylan.

Alex opens the limo door for me.

“I’m leaving for a few days on business,” he says before walking to his car.

As I stand by the limo and watch Alex drive away, I think about how I’ve treated him the past few weeks. He didn’t deserve any of that.

I pull out my phone to apologize but then decide it’s better done in person. I can wait until he gets back. In the meantime, there’s someone else I need to apologize to. Someone I’ve missed over the last few weeks because I was too stubborn to talk to him.

I get into the limo and buckle my seat belt.

“Reggie?”

“Yes, Miss?”

“Can you take me to see my dad?”

“Right away, Miss.”

I burst into tears as the car moves into traffic. I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been. I think back over the past few weeks, and even though I had been reaching out to Dylan, I had also been convincing myself that Alex doesn’t matter.

A so-called normal girl would reach out to her bestie for some girlfriend therapy, but I never had that. What I always counted on was my dad.

As the limo pulls up to the front door, my father races out of the house. He’s unshaven and has dark circles under his eyes. I can tell he hasn’t been sleeping much. He doesn’t need to tell me that it’s all because of me, I know it is.

Not that he would ever blame me, but he didn’t need to. I did a good enough job of blaming myself.

The limo comes to a stop, and my father opens my door. As soon as I’m out of the car, he kisses my cheeks and wraps his arms tightly around me.

“My girl is home!” he exclaims.

“Stop it,” I say as I hug him back. “You’re going to make me feel even worse.”

“Come inside and let’s talk,” he says. “Reggie? Thank you for bringing my little girl home.”

---