Page 86 of Married With Malice

“Yeah, they’re wild about each other. A case of true love if ever there was one.”

The change in her face is subtle. Her gaze shifts and she nibbles at her lower lip. I get the feeling I might have said something wrong.

More laughter erupts at the party table. Our meals arrive, putting a temporary halt to awkward conversation.

I manage to choke down a few bites in between admiring my wife, who eats with dainty grace. Once she looks up and is startled to catch me watching her. I move my gaze in a different direction.

Anni picks up her wine glass and takes a sip. “I was reading about the spa here. Their prickly pear andaloetreatments are world famous.”

“Then you should check it out.” I toss my napkin on top of my unfinished meal. “Treat yourself.”

She doesn’t respond and her shoulders dip with a soft sigh. I run her words back through my mind, wondering what I missed.

Did she stress the word ‘aloe’? It seems like she might have.

“You need some aloe. It’ll take the sting out of the sunburn. I’ve got some in my bag…”

That golden day in Key West feels like it happened a decade ago. It’s possible Anni was slipping in a reference to our first white-hot sex episode in front of the mirror but this is probably a stretch.

My phone has been switched to silent mode and it vibrates in my pocket. I grind my teeth together with irritation. This is the third time in the last ten minutes.

What does it take to get one fucking night of peace with my wife?

Meanwhile, there’s some commotion at the loud table. A guitar has been produced from somewhere and it’s being pushed on the big man who was referred to as ‘Creed the Ogre’.

Chase, the jokester who opened the door for us earlier, claps his hands together with encouragement. “Come on, you know you want to show off.”

Creed scowls at his brother and stays put.

The third brother, the one decorated in inked artwork, is more diplomatic. “How about just one song?” he says. “It’s been a while since I heard you perform.”

Creed’s expression turns slightly less irritable but he’s still unconvinced. Then a pretty dark-haired woman rises from her chair and cozies up to him. She slides into his lap, slings her arms around his neck and murmurs in his ear.

That’s all it takes to transform him. Creed smiles, runs his thick knuckles over her cheek and briefly meets her lips in a tender kiss. She hands him the guitar and persuades him to move his chair to a low platform beside an unoccupied grand piano.

A member of the staff drags a microphone out and adjusts the stem while Creed tunes the guitar with his head bent in concentration. When he’s satisfied, he tests out the microphone.

“Good evening, folks. Please excuse the interruption. I’ll just be sharing one quick song and then I’ll let you get back to your meal.”

He strums a few notes and then begins singing in a deep, mesmerizing voice. The song is slow and the lyrics familiar but it takes me an entire verse before I can place it. I’ve heard covers ofForever Youngbefore but Creed’s version ranks at the top. Every note is thick with emotion and every word heavy with meaning.

Anni has tilted her chair toward the stage and watches the scene with intense interest. Everyone in the room is fixated on the man singing. Someone ought to get this guy a record contract.

Though I’m no music expert, I feel his voice in my bones. He sings in feelings; the love and the longing. The hope that the best of life will last while passionately fearing it will end at any minute.

The three couples are all different. Chase pulls his wife to her feet and begins dancing her around ballroom-style. She laughs, clearly relishing his clownish behavior. Creed’s wife parks a chair in front of her husband and blows him a kiss.

The brother whose name I haven’t heard yet sways lightly to the music with an attractive brunette in his arms. Her eyes are closed and her cheek is pressed to his broad chest. He leans his chin on top of her head and closes his eyes, the picture of a man deeply in love.

A flash of motion draws my attention at the same second my phone blows up again. Fucking annoying but I should see what’s up just in case it’s a dire emergency. As I yank my phone out of my pocket, I see Anni pull back her hand with the speed of an electric shock.

She’d been reaching across the table. It I didn’t know better, I’d say she was reaching for my hand but this can’t be the case. It’s just not something she would do. She was probably reaching for one of the rolls in the basket.

Monte’s name flashes across the phone screen. With all the ongoing havoc I should give him a minute.

“I’ll be right back,” I say to Anni.

She keeps staring at the stage, giving no sign that she even heard me.

---