Page 38 of What We Broke

Now I couldn’t hide my confusion if I tried. “Jesse, this is your bed.”

“It’sourbed,” he corrects. “And I want you to sleep in it.”

“Without you?”

A humorless laugh leaves his mouth. “The irony, right?”

“You could stay.”

“I know.” He drops a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “But tomorrow you’ll be a different man, and it’s going to hurt enough without adding a whole night in bed with you.”

CHAPTEREIGHT

jesse

NOW

“They can’t be serious,”Leo says into his cell as we enter the house. He tugs at his tie and alternates the phone between each shoulder and ear as he rolls up the sleeves of his button-down. Switch out his dress pants and shoes and he looks almost the same as he had the night I met him.

His curls were now wild; an untamed mess. I don’t think he’s cut it since Lola died. The lines on his face are a little older and deeper, but he is still the most beautiful man in any room.

“Outpatient rehab,” he tells Gio. “It’s some kind of joke, that’s what it is. And to top it off, they’re suspending my license for six fucking months.”

Upon hearing the last part, I tip my chin up at him to get his attention. “Tell Gio whenever he’s got time, he and I can go pick up your car from the impound.”

“Did you hear that?” he asks Gio. He gives me a quick nod, letting me know he’s passed on the message, and then continues to explain the details of his hearing to his best friend.

If he were Raine, I would gently remind him that irresponsible actions have consequences, but he isn’t, and with the state our marriage is in, I don’t think I’m the person he wants to hear it from anyway.

We’re in some new phase after the other night. A lot has happened and a lot has been said, and we are far from being fixed, but yesterday was the first morning he got out of bed before I left for work.

I didn’t want to read into it, but I also allowed myself to revel in the small win.

Leo continues to talk to Gio, and I almost feel myself tune him out when he mutters,

“It’s as if I’m some kind of fucking alcoholic. I fucking know what an alcoholic looks like.”

I don’t know what Gio says to him from the other end of the line, but when his gaze meets mine, I know it’s too late to hide the thoughts that are written all over my face.

“Gio,” he says, while staring at me. “I’ll call you back.”

Any small win I thought I had is about to be eliminated.

We’re both standing in the living room now, staring at each other. There’s a storm brewing, anger and hurt and a whole lot of betrayal.

“You think I’m an alcoholic?” he asks bluntly.

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I sit down on the nearest couch. Leaning forward, I rest my forearms on my thighs and look up at him. “What do you want me to say here?”

He looks perplexed. “Obviously the truth.”

When I continue to stare at him, no words leaving my mouth, he asks me again, “Do you think I’m an alcoholic?”

“Tell me why you think you’re not,” I throw at him, turning the tables.

“I can’t believe this,” he seethes. “Driving drunk doesn’t mean I’m an alcoholic.”

Rising up off the couch, I leap forward, managing to grab his arm. “You know this is so much more than what happened the other night.”

---