Page 53 of The Pucking Fake Marriage

Ken’s eyes are burning with disdain, but he keeps his voice as light as a summer breeze. “Well, no one on the Philly Titans had to drop out formeto take their spot. So, you know…”

Kali takes an angry step toward his brother. In the next second, their father is in the middle of them, pushing Kali backward. “Come on, boys,” he says, his voice sounding exhausted. “It’s Thanksgiving. We should be one big happily family, no?”

Kali doesn’t seem to be hearing him. “That’s it, isn’t it? No one in this family cares about sports, so you put that onme. Grow up, Kenneth. We’re not always going to fawn over you like those girls out on the ice.”

“I guarantee you’reallgoing to care about sports if Kali keeps talking about Charlie like that. At least, you’re going to care about how to defend yourself from a mean right hook. You know, in case you need that knowledge in the future.”

Someone makes a small sound. I turn to the table. Beside Elizabeth, who is looking up at her sons in utter shock, my mother is gazing at me. She has a calm, knowing smile on her face.

The meaning behind her look is as clear as day. Vomit claws up my throat as I look away from her, back to the men. My own heart is hammering in my chest.

Kali mutters something. Ken doesn’t hear it either apparently, because he roars, “What thefuckdid you just say?”

“Language,” their father mutters, still pushing his sons apart. His motions are reflexive—he’s gotten used to doing this over the years. “Cut it out, both of you,” he adds, but I notice he’s glaring at Ken.

I’m aware that my mother is still observing me. Barely able to breathe, I focus on Ken, on what he’s going to do next. But he just glares at his brother. The hatred recedes from his eyes for a second, and the emotion underneath it sends arrows to my heart.

Pain.

Ken shrugs off his father’s hand, turns around, and walks out of the house.

I stare down at my feet, my mother’s look and words filling my head with a dull ringing. Ken is used to his family hurting him. I knew that, I helped him get through it a million times.

But only now am I realizing that I never accounted for all the many waysIhurt him.

FIFTEEN

WALLS OF GLASS (KEN)

She doesn’t come back to the apartment until three days later.

I’m lounging in the living room, drowning my frustration in a can of Diet Coke and barely paying attention to the show on TV, when I hear the door creak open.

I whip around, and there she is, standing by the door, her hair in her usual loose bun, dark rings under her eyes, and a bag slung over each one of her shoulders…still wearing that too small dress she had on at Thanksgiving dinner.

I’ve grown to hate it. Especially since it’s been appearing in my dreams for the past few days.

“Welcome back,wife.” It’s hard to keep the tinge of bitterness from my voice as I stand to greet her. The irony is not lost on me. Once again, I ostracized my entire family for a woman who clearly wants nothing to do with me.

Except, of course, in those moments she’s suddenly and inexplicably into me.

Not that I care, I remind myself. Charlie Chapmansatisfied the voracious lust she awoke in me, and I’m glad for that.

Still doesn’t mean I’m not pissed at myself—and her—because I’ve not grown out of my kneejerk reaction to watching her get insulted.

She looks up at me, wariness etched in her gaze. “Ken, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but…”

“Nothing.” Crossing my arms, I stare down at her, my face carefully expressionless. “Not like I deserve to know why you’d stay back with your parents after the way they treated you. Or why your mother said what she did.”

She sighs, the bag sliding off her shoulder and onto the floor. “I told you how important it was that I celebrated the holiday with my family. It’s been years, and my mother has been a pain in the ass, demanding that I come home. Until this year, I didn’t even feel like I was good enough to go back there.”

Why does her explanation sound like she crafted it to make me look like a petulant teenager?

“Get to the point.”

Her eyes flash with anger. “Fine. I kept my cool back at the house because I didn’t want either of our families suspecting anything about our…arrangement.”

“Are you speaking of our marriage or of the fact that we fucked? Cause I could swear you’d have been fine with me stealing you away to have my way with you while Kali had the room distracted.”

---