Page 60 of All Our Secrets

I knew,I fucking knew. That was the problem. I saw it in every glance he sent her way. But he’d been a chicken shit, and I wished he’d remain one. It’d be a cold day in hell before I let Peyton find out about his feelings for her.

“Get out,” I spoke calmly.

“What?” He raised a brow as he braced his feet apart.

“I won’t let you seduce my wife!” As I shouted, a staticky feeling centered at my chest, spreading down my arms. King went sailing through the open door. He landed on his ass in the yard with a loud thud.

As he sucked in a breath, I stared at my hands. Did I do that? I smiled.

“You little shit.” Jumping to his feet, he scowled and walked up the porch steps. His angry footfalls creaked against the wood.

“You’re not getting in my house,” I warned him as he approached the door. Something dwelled inside me. A thick, angry energy centered at my chest that burst outward once more. Toward King. It didn’t knock him off the porch that time, but he stumbled back a couple of steps.

Once he regained his footing, the skin on the right side of his face grew taut and he narrowed his eyes. “How are you doing that?”

“Don’t come back.”

Something dark flashed across his face. The same determination that stared at me when I’d tried to make him stop this nonsense. Just like that time, the same looming desperation clawed at me from the inside. It meant something more now.

King nodded, as if coming to terms with something unspoken. Our friendship was gone. That’s what it was.No. To be honest, our friendship had been fragile since the day I brought Peyton to meet him.

I might be dead, but I wouldn’t give up my wife. If King could see me, one day soon, she could too.

“There’snothingholding me back now. Peyton’s had me since I first heard her voice through my headset. I’m going to give everything this time. I won’t fuck up again. I love her. It’s time she and I go back to what we were. Peyton’s coming back to me—right where she belongs.”

It wasn’t just the words he spewed; it was the utter confidence he possessed that irritated me. He believed what he was saying. I couldn’t allow that.

“Don’t fool yourself.” I smirked. “You only had a friendship with her. I’ve fucked my wife on every piece of furniture in this house. Even the bed you slept on while you were here.”

King remained stoic as he crossed his arms over his chest. Something about that frustrated me more.

“Once Peyton can see me, she’ll stay with me.”

He reared back, shaking his head, as if he didn’t recognize me. Or couldn’t believe me. “I forgot how selfish you can be. I won’t let you tether her to this house andyou.If there’s anything left of our friendship, I hope you’ll listen to me right now. Accept what’s happening. You’re dead, Theo, and Peytonwillmove on. Find peace in what comes next.”

“Find peace when you’re the reason I’m dead?”

“You’ve always been a fucking hothead. No one told you to storm off on your bike. I’m responsible for my own feelings, not yours.”

“Nothing comes after dying. I’m not leaving my family.”

“If nothing exists after death, thenhoware you here?”

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “There’s no next for me. This is my home. I’m not leaving my wife or son.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

don’t think

Peyton

It wasn’t out of the norm for Silas to leave without saying bye, but Devin was worried about him. Devin said he was shaken up when he stormed off in his truck. I’d be lying if I wasn’t a tad curious. Okay, more than a tad. And worried. I hoped everything was okay.

As I walked out to my Tahoe, I couldn’t help but notice that Becky had left, too. I didn’t see her car. I glanced left and rightthreetimes, so I was positive. She was gone. And so was Silas. I tightened my hold on the car seat as my stomach ached.Stupid indigestion.

I stopped at my Tahoe and searched one more time, because I must have wanted my churning gut to feel worse.He barely looked her way today.He wasn’t with her. But… women could be very persuasive. Maybe he had an itch.

Oh, for Heaven’s sake.

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