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I scoff. “And you’ve been faithful?”

“I’m a married man,” he declares, his tone acidic. I clutch the counter as he steps forward, caging me further while engulfing me in his wrath.

“We don’t have to hate each other,” I plea.

He tilts his head. “This truly was inevitable, wasn’t it? I just didn’t realize why it was. But now I see it. I see you.”

Fed up, I lash out. “You’ve done an amazing job painting me the villain in all this, Easton, but you’re so damned selfish and adamant on blaming me that you’ll never claim your part, will you? Even when I begged you to see how badly we would hurt everyone. Even after you assured me you wouldn’t force me to choose, or give up my career, that my relationships wouldn’t suffer—”

“So, this is you justifying divorcing me, then? Such a beautiful martyr,” he whispers darkly.

“You know, walking away would have been more convincing. Or have you forgotten I know you just as well. I seeeverythingyou’re not saying.”

“I know what I’m in for, Beauty. I’ve always known, and that’s why I fought so hard for you. But you’re still confused, just like you were the day we met, so let me help save you the mystery of your future reality,” he whispers, his tone unforgiving.

“Maybe you fuck him for the first time tonight, and while you do, you think of me the whole time. You’ll smile as he pulls out and make your way to the bathroom, feeling sick because you believed for a few minutes you could do it, you could escape me. While you scrub his cum from your body, maybe you resign yourself and entertain his idea of what you could be like as a couple because you need something, anything. So, you’ll play along because you don’t have a choice. Months will go by as you drown in delusion. Maybe you’ll adopt a puppy together and pose for the cameras to keep it going. They love you together, so you should too. Eventually, he’ll get down on one knee, and you’ll say yes because you feel obligated to, and you’ll think to yourself, ‘Why not?’ because you’ve come this far. You’ll plan an elaborate wedding and invite everyone who knows you to watch you lie your way through ‘I do,’ remembering the first time you said it and actually fucking meant it—but you threw that husband away. Before you know it, you’re making little superheroes to fill the void and later crying your way through the carpool, realizing you’re not living the life you wanted. The worst part? You won’t be confused as to why you’re empty. You’ll know why the whole time.”

He turns me to him and cups my face with a reverent palm as he presses in.

“See, Beauty,you’repartvillainnow.” Hot tears glide down my cheeks as he brushes one away with a soothing thumb. “That’s my stain on you. I’m in your skin, in the blood that flows through your veins . . . and we all know a villaincan’tmake it with a superhero.”

“And your future?” I rasp out, his gentle touch driving the dagger further into my heart.

“I’ve got all this sickness running through me to use to my advantage,” he says softly, “feels like fuel for a long fucking career. At least I have that, right?”

“Well then, I guess I feel sorry for the women you bed.”

“Don’t. You know how generous I can be.”

My palm itches to slap him as I glare back up at him while his eyes batter me with deep-seated resentment. I lift my chin.

“I didn’t throw you away, Easton. You stopped listening to me. You gave up on me.”

“You gave me every reason to.”

Hurt leaks into his timbre as he runs a gentle thumb down the side of my face. “You see, you got the vowstwisted,my beautiful wife. You were supposed to forsakeall othersforme,” his voice cracks with his admission, and I die at the sound of it.

“I’ve been faithful.” I grip his T-shirt in my fist, hot agony sliding down my face as his warmth surrounds me. “Easton, I—”

“Shhhh, Beauty, go back to sleep,” he whispers, completely dismissing my every word while lowering his thumb and aggressively smearing the lipstick across my jaw, a blatant attempt to erase Tye’s kiss. As he does it, I see his eyes flit with a thousand emotions. With one last swipe of his thumb, he leans in, his kiss feeling every bit the kiss of death he intends it to be. A pained grunt leaves him as he releases my hands from his T-shirt before ripping away from me abruptly.

I keep my eyes closed, voice breaking as I repeat the truth. “I’ve been faithful.”

SIXTY-FOUR

“Drive”

Sixx:AM

Natalie

Twelve to fifteen minutes. That’s the length of the average halftime show. Though my hopes are that the Sergeants will take the former as the Cowboys retreat from the field with a fourteen-point lead.

Twelve minutes of hell is what awaits my father and me as the stadium staff scrambles below to set the stage for the halftime show. Thankful for the Dutch courage flowing through me and the slight ease it brings, I decline to sip my newly refilled beer. Though buzzed, I’m still painfully present. There’s no remedy for the grief currently running through me in any form.

“You were a temporary high.”

If Easton hadn’t annihilated me with his vicious retaliation in that bathroom—if we hadn’t run into each other, I’d be somewhere near the vicinity of okay. But as the teams disappear from the field and the stadium begins to shake with renewed energy for what’s to come, I know the true test of the night lies in the grueling minutes ahead.

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