Page 33 of Impending Consent

“Because you’re in the eye of the storm. Honesty is what you need right now. You’re so used to doing things your way. I can’t say I understand how or why but you no longer have that luxury. You have to consider the man you dragged into your bullshit. Actions have consequences and your manipulation to have sex with Rival made him your consequence as your husband. Deal with it maturely or I promise you will regret all of this.”

“I already am. I have to go.”

I ended the call, tossed my phone over my head, and yanked a pillow from the stack against the headboard. Once I covered my face, I growled my frustration, knowing this was all my fault. I had no one to blame but myself and that just fucking sucked.

Chapter 8

Rival.

I could have fucking strangled my wife.

Wife.

I had a wife.

My eyes lowered to the platinum band on my left ring finger. Sailor Addison was going to test my patience and my resolve. She told her father I was a contractor who’d built her wall units.

The shit gut punched me in a way I hadn’t been expecting. The worst part was that I couldn’t rightly be angry about her not taking accountability when I hadn’t done the same. At least where our marriage was concerned. My mother had no idea she had a daughter-in-law, mostly because I wasn’t sure how to present the idea to her. I also fully planned on remaining married to Sailor even after our contracted year expired and I didn’t want my mother to hate Sailor for manipulating this situation to marry me.

I was a grown ass man fully capable of defending my actions and Sailor could argue the smartest, skilled legal sharps under the table and have them second guessing their entire lives. She was just that damn good but my sweet Sailor wouldn’t stand a chance in defending herself against my mother. Not where I wasconcerned. I wouldn’t put my wife in the line of fire, no matter how fucking pissed I was with her. So no, I couldn’t truly be upset about Sailor’s panicking to keep our sham of a union from her father.

But…

It still fucking gut punched me and that was a harsh reality. I needed to remedy the situation and the only way to do so was to ensure she had no argument about our willingness to fully embrace this ordeal head on.

As soon as the door to my guest room closed and Sailor was locked away behind it, I decided to bite the bullet and get this over with. If I expected Sailor to be fully committed, I had to be as well.

“Rival, sweetheart. I was just thinking about you?” I grinned at the cheer in her voice. My mother was always happy.

“Yeah, what about me?”

“Mostly how I haven’t seen my son in so long I can’t remember what he looks like.”

I chuckled at the implication. “Look in the mirror, Ma, It’s hard to forget when I look just like you.”

“You look like your father,” she asserted with a clipped tone.

“What happened to the whole ‘I got my good looks from you but my bad attitude from him’?”

“Boy, don’t try to check me.” My smile expanded.

“Wouldn’t think of it. How are you?” I leaned over my legs and dropped my elbows into my thighs, lowering my head.

“Old, tired, and happy.”

“You’re not old.”

She scoffed. My mother would celebrate her sixty-fourth birthday this year. She was also still very active and looked much younger. She also wouldn’t dare classify herself as old unless it benefited her agenda, such as fishing for a compliment. “You’re probably in better shape than I am if we’re being honest.”

The woman biked daily, traveling miles around the city, took weekly yoga classes, and hiked with a group of women who loved to explore nature. Most of my physical activity came from building things and occasional pick up games at the gym with Jairo. I was fairly fit but my mother’s athleticism would surely surpass mine.

“Then you should do more with your love, son. You’re too young to be outdone by an old woman.” I chuckled at the smugness of her tone. “Now tell me why you’re calling. What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing’s on my mind. I just called.”

“You don’t just call, Rival. That’s what I do. You call when your heart and mind are heavy and right now it’s both. You’re my child, no matter the distance, I’m always connected to you. What’s wrong?”

I grinned and lifted my head, glancing at my closed door, and my mood shifted again. This was going to be a hard conversation and I had no idea how to navigate things without turning my mother against my wife.

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