Page 2 of Two Wrongs

Hale Automotive, my father-in-law’s auto shop, is only a couple miles away from our apartment. In Harriston, everything is only a couple of miles away from everything else. The shop has been closed for five hours, and all the people are usually long gone by six. Yet, I find myself hoping for some car related emergency that has kept him for hours after closing.

Liam’s flashy red Mustang is not parked in his usual spot on the side of the building. Pulling over, I slam my hand into the steering wheel over and over. My car door is wrenched open and my seat belt ripped off.

I look up into the dark eyes of my father-in-law, Griffin Hale. “What the hell are you doing throwing a fit in front of my shop this late at night? Did my son bring home the wrong kind of flowers for your anniversary?”

“What flowers?” I scoff.

He barks a short laugh. “Is that it then? He forgot the flowers. You know, being married isn’t about the gifts you get, but the time you spend together.”

Sitting in my seat while he leans above me makes me feel small and trapped. Okay, so I am rather on the short side. Griffin stands nearly a foot taller than me, seeing as how I’m only five-four. I climb out and duck under his arm.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve barely seen my husband lately. Tonight I can’t seem to find him at all.”

I try to move past him, but he grabs my arms and pins me against the car. “What do you mean you can’t find him? What did you do?”

My nostrils flare, and I force myself not to stomp on his foot to make him let go of me. “What didIdo? Because it had to be me, right? So what is it now? He couldn’t find his favorite shirt because I didn’t do his laundry? Or, how about let’s tease me because at nineteen I didn’t know how to cook, since my mom thought we’d have loads of time for her to teach me. Maybe you’d also like to complain that I work too much, but somehow also not enough.”

Griffin steps back and I start pacing in front of my car. I can’t stop ranting now even if I try. It feels too good to let all of this out.

“I know it’s not that I won’t have sex with him. I have been practically throwing myself at him, and he won’t touch me. So what is it? Because I can’t fucking figure it out!”

His fists are clenched by his sides, and I know I’ve pushed him too far. “I warned you that getting married too young was going to be a problem. People change the most when they’re young.”

“What do you want me to do about it now? Am I supposed to stop loving him because I’m only twenty-three? Are you trying to tell me he doesn’t love me? Tell me, Griffin, because right now I don’t have a clue what is going on.”

“Calm down, okay?” He holds his hands in front of him like he’s trying to ward off a wild animal. “We’ll find him. I’m sure there’s an explanation for everything.”

He moves back to his truck. The door creaks and protests as it opens. I stand there staring at him. “What are you waiting for? Get your ass in the truck and let’s find my son.”

“Great. This night didn’t suck enough, now I get to be stuck in a car with your grumpy ass,” I grumble under my breath.

He stops and narrows his eyes. “What did you say?”

I paste on the fakest smile I’m capable of and lie through my teeth. “I said lead the way.”

He grunts something about me being a smart mouthed brat, and before I can run away he barrels straight for me, throws me over his shoulder, probably exposing my scandalous underwear to God and anyone looking, before dropping my ass on the cracked bench seat of his truck.

“I suggest you cut out the attitude. My tolerance doesn’t stretch far where you’re concerned,” he snaps at me.

“Well that’s a news flash. The grouchy, asshole of a father-in-law doesn’t like me,” I toss back at him.

Griffin watches me out of the corner of his eye while he climbs into the cab of the truck. “What has gotten into you. You’ve never been this mouthy before.”

“I ran out of fucks to give earlier tonight. This is who you get,” I say looking out the window.

We drive through the town, passing by all of the places Liam likes to go when he’s not at work. Places I didn’t even know he frequented. I have a little bit of hope when we don’t find his car in the parking lot of the Pretty Kitty, the one and only strip club we have in town, but the fact his father thought he might be there depresses me.

I really don’t like the way Griffin is starting to look at me with pity. I much prefer it when he looks at me with disdain as he has since Liam and I eloped after I graduated high school and he convinced me to give up my scholarship.

We wind through town, and end up at the park down by the river. It’s well after dark, and the park is closed, in theory, although teenagers are known to hook up in the dark corners from time to time. It’s where Liam used to take me in high school when my parents were still alive.

I hold my breath. One way or another my world is about to come crashing down. I can feel it in the air, like it’s charged with impending doom. Either he’s here, and the reason for that can’t be good, or he’s been in an accident and no one has been able to let either of us know.

The headlights of the truck flash on the reflector, and my heart falls to my feet. I’d recognize that cherry red paint job anywhere. Harriston is a blue collar town. Here we drive trucks or modest sedans. Large families pile into vans. No one, except my husband, drives a sports car.

Griffin stops several feet from his car, and I throw open the passenger door and jump out. I hear him shouting for me to stop, but I can’t. I won’t. My feet take me to see what I know will torture me for a long time to come.

The windows are fogged up, so it’s hard to see clearly. That, unfortunately, doesn’t prevent me from seeing two bodies writhing in the back seat. His ass pumps as he works himself into her. Whoever she is. Likely someone I know, but she has her head tossed back in ecstasy as he works his impressive cock in and out of her. A cock I’d thought had only ever been inside of me.

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