Page 61 of An Ex Affair

Joselyn stuck out her hand, bracelets clanging on her bony wrist. “Hi! I’ve heard so much about you, Colson.”

I took her hand briefly, dipping my head in the barest of nods. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. Mom always said don’t say anything if you can’t say anything nice, and I was finally listening to my mother.

Joselyn didn’t seem to care. She turned her wicked grin to Tully. “I see why you’re starstruck, babe. He’s yummy! A firefighter and everything?”

“Can I help you with something?” I finally blurted out, not so kindly. I derived much pleasure from the smile sliding off her face as she turned back to me.

“Yes, I think you can. Convince Tully here that Hollywood’s not done with her. I have a producer waving around huge amounts of money for a reality show! He absolutely loves Tully!” The woman talked in exclamation marks and it was already hurting my head.

I turned my attention to Tully, watching every flicker of emotion that crossed her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, I saw resignation, then guilt begin to bloom. Lead settled in my gut.

“This time around it’s not just about her though,” Joselyn powered on. “This new show would line the pockets of her friends too. Emmerleigh, Savannah, and Pip would all make enough to change their lives. It’s really fantastic. An opportunity that can’t be passed up! Everything our girl touches turns to gold!”

Tully smiled uncomfortably and it hit me. She wanted this. She wanted to say yes and was putting up a fight because ofme. Everything she toucheddidturn to gold. Except our relationship. It just held her back every time.

It felt like ripping my heart out of my chest and stomping on it, but I put my hand on Tully’s back, pushing her back toward the love seat. “Why don’t you discuss the details?”

Tully’s eyes snapped to mine, curiosity and shock in them. I nodded at her, resolved to not be the one who stands in her way. Ever.

“Yes! I have the contract all ready to go!” Joselyn took over, grabbing Tully’s arm and tugging her back to the love seat. “You’ll find the terms more than generous! Of course, we’d need Emmerleigh to sign off, but when I talked to her yesterday, she all but said the choice was yours.”

My knees almost gave out. Yesterday? How long had Tully known about this? Who all knew about this before I did? Did my own brother know about this? Mom? While I was going around publicly trying to find a relationship therapist for me and Tully, she’d been planning her next exit. I turned right around, grabbed my bag off the floor, patted my leg for Hayes to follow me, and slipped out the door, heading for my truck.

“Fuck!” I hissed under my breath, lungs already pumping for gulps of oxygen that wouldn’t heal the ache in my chest. Hayes whined. I steadied myself enough to pick him up and put him in the truck.

My phone rang in my back pocket, distracting me momentarily. It was Boon. I answered immediately, feeling like he was the one person in my life that probably didn’t know about Tully’s new show before me. In other words, he was a lifeline out of this nightmare.

“Yo, bro!” he hooted in good spirits, oblivious to my emotional state. “What’s hanging? Besides my huge dick.”

I blew right past his stupid jokes. “Where are you?”

“Huh?”

“Are you in Texas?” I threw my bag in my truck and climbed in.

“Yeah. We have a few home games back-to-back this week. Why?”

A plan formed in my head. A desperate plan to ease the hurt that felt all too familiar. “I’m coming to visit.”

“Sweet! Like, today?”

Boon was a pain-in-the-ass little brother, but right now I could have kissed him for not blinking an eye. “Yeah. I’m headed to the airport now. Don’t tell Mom or Warrick.”

“Okaaay.” He strung out the word, clearly trying to figure out what was going on. I put the truck in reverse and backed down the driveway.

“I’ll fill you in on everything tonight. Just keep quiet for now. Can you do that?”

“Bitch, I’m the one yelled at for never calling Mom. Of course I can keep my mouth quiet. But if you’re into something illegal, let me know. I’ll have my lawyer come over tonight.”

I scrunched up my face. “It’s not something illegal, jackass.”

“Okay, okay! Just covering my bases. Who knows what you rednecks get up to in your small town.”

“Fuck you. It’s the same small town you grew up in. The town you’ll be moving to in just a matter of a few months.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” he groaned. “Listen, I gotta go. My beer delivery just arrived.”

I shook my head and hung up. That guy was so accustomed to the city now, he might not be able to assimilate to small-town life again. But that was a worry for another day. Right now, I needed to get out of town and get my head screwed on straight. I couldn’t think when I was looking at Tully. All I saw was the woman I’d fallen in love with. The woman who’d never leave my heart, even if she left me physically. I couldn’t figure out what to do about this new show when she stared up at me with those big brown eyes, hair a wild mess around her face.

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