Page 34 of F*ck Marriage

“I don’t know,” I say, watching the way the muscles in his arms flex every time he pulls back. “Counseling, forcing yourself to stay in a relationship until your fears go away…”

“Is that what you did?”

“Seriously, Satcher…” I swipe at my hair, pushing it out of my face. “Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

“Maybe.”

I didn’t expect that. I wipe my palms on my pants not knowing what to say.

Luckily, he’s the one to speak first. “You have this perception of me. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s wrong.”

“Okay,” I say. “So you’re not a womanizing, shallow, rich dude who likes beautiful women?”

He grunts. “Whoa! Wait just a damn minute.Shallow?”

I laugh, which Satcher seems to enjoy.

“Does any insult faze you, Sasquatch?”

“Only the true ones.”

“Must be nice to be that confident.” I sigh.

“Must be nice to be so beautiful,” he says.

I look around to see who he’s talking about; there are women everywhere. “Where?”

When I look back at Satcher he’s staring right at me. I’m frozen, heat climbing my neck as I try to understand if he’s messing with me. I blink and force myself to focus.

“Um…” As my discomfort increases so do Satcher’s dimples. “Honest to God, Satcher. You always do this to me. You love to make me uncomfortable and confused.”

Satcher, who seems to be immensely enjoying this, places a hand over his heart and frowns. “Billie—”

“Uh-uh…”

“Wendy,” he corrects. “I assure you that it’s not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable or confused. But you should definitely explore why it is exactly that I make you feel confused and uncomfortable. Sounds like a personal issue.”

I open and close my mouth. There haven’t been many moments in my life where the cat has actually gotten my tongue. I don’t like how out of control I currently feel, or how his eyebrows are lifted practically to his hairline as he messes with me.

“Are you flirting with me?”

He doesn’t say anything, but his smile is enough to send every pathetic girl feeling I have into overdrive. I stand firm against the butterflies and try to look unfazed. For lack of anything better to do with my hands, I take a sip of water from the bottle I brought and spill half of it down the front of my shirt.

“Shit…” I’m brushing off water, hot with embarrassment, when I hear Woods’ voice.

“So you guys are gym partners now?”

My eyes don’t immediately leave Satcher’s face, they linger on the smug set of his lips before I turn my head to look at my former husband.

“Hello to you too,” I say.

Woods is annoyed; his eyes always get really small when he’s annoyed. He has a wad of Juicy Fruit in his cheek, and he holds it there while he stares between Satcher and me like we’re two teenagers coming home late from prom. I hold my shirt away from my skin, feeling awkward. I don’t know how the two of them got to this place, but there’s a palpable tension between them.

“I’ll see you, Billie.” Satcher winks at me before moving away, never actually acknowledging Woods’ presence.

I watch him go, disappointed. We’d been having fun, even if he was teasing me. I’m not the only one staring at him; half of the female gym in the vicinity turn their heads as he passes by.

“That’s something I never expected,” Woods says.

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