Page 10 of My Wife

“Tommy!”

Summer finally notices that we’re on the ferry. Madison nudged her, Summer looked over her shoulder, and with a squeal, she beckons him over.

Not me. Just Tommy.

He waits for me anyway. I wave him off, taking my time removing my backpack to add it to the pile of luggage. He gives me an apologetic grimace—because as much as I try to hide how much Summer annoys me, I’m no saint—before joining Summer and Madison at the railing.

I watch as Summer squeezes my boyfriend to her, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m so glad you invited us. It’ll be like old times’ sake again. All of us together, hanging out on Halo Island like we did when we were kids.”

Tommy lifts his hand, ruffling his hair. “That’s the plan. It’s been so long since it closed down. I never thought we’d ever go back.”

Still holding onto Tommy’s arm, she glances down the ferry, making sure everyone knows she’s looking at me. “I wonder why that was.”

Bitch.

Ten years later and she still wants to blame me for the Gullhaven teens losing their favorite hang-out because my mom died there.

Tommy frowns, turning to search for me. Whether he did it on purpose or not, the way he shifted his upper body broke the connection between him and Summer. Taking advantage of that, he steps a few feet back my way. “Come over here, Cyn. We’ll sit up front so we can see the island approaching.”

From behind him, Summer scowls at me. She only does it because Tommy can’t see her, something I know all too well since her pretty face snaps into a simpering smile once I tell him I’ll be right there and he turns again.

The two women each grab one of his arms, dragging Tommy to the front row of bench seats near the front of the ferry. They maneuver him so that he’s sitting between them, leaving no room for me on the bench.

I let my backpack drop on top of Tommy’s cooler. Mulligan’s disappeared, probably getting the ferry ready to go, and I think about taking a seat inside. It’s already chillier out on the water than I thought it would be, but instead of grabbing a sweater from my suitcase, I hug myself and take the end spot on the second bench seat.

Almost immediately, Tommy stands up, climbing over his bench so that he can take the seat next to me.

The stink face that Summer makes when Tommy rejects her and Madison brings out my mischievous side.

“Where’s Tyler?” I ask as sweetly as I can. “I know Aaron had to cancel, but where’s your husband, Summer?”

“He’s busy with work,” Summer answers, sharing a quick look with Madison. “He’s coming later with Vee and Chase.”

And that makes seven.

“Great,” cuts in Tommy. “I was thinking we could have a bonfire tonight, celebrating our return to Halo Island. I brought stuff for s’mores in my cooler.”

Summer gives a half-hearted nod and another pointed glance toward Madison.

Summer’s guard dog sets her sights on me.

“It’s so nice of you to worry about Ty, Cyn, but you don’t have to. Summer knows where her husband is.” Madison tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Can you say the same?”

I recoil as if slapped, slamming into Tommy’s chest.

Wow.

Wow.

This isn’t the first time Summer’s sicced Madison on me when she was too high and mighty to land the blow herself. But,fuck. That was a direct hit, and we all know it.

Tommy’s hold on me tightens, sudden fury in the way his muscles tense and coil. “Madison. What the fuck?”

She bats her eyes innocently at him. “What?”

“You know what.”

“It was a simple question,” Summer says, jumping to Madison’s defense as if she hadn’t given her attack dog a silent command to go after me.

---