Page 12 of Catching Him

An uncomfortable laugh escaped Eric. “He’s good and I don’t mind. I wouldn’t get to come see you if he paid someone to shop for us.”

“Awww. You’re too sweet. It’s just that if I had the money, I would be on a yacht somewhere or on a beach. Instead, he always stays here. It makes no sense.”

“He loves New York.” Eric grabbed a gallon of milk and some cheese.

“What about you? You don’t miss your family back in California? You don’t miss the weather?”

Eric shrugged. “Sometimes I miss the weather.” He wouldn’t talk about his family. “But I love Oakley more than I love the year-round warmth.” Eric headed for the register with Hana in tow.

“You really are too sweet. I like you much better than Oakley’s last husband.”

Everything inside Eric froze. His brain refused to work.

Hana scanned his groceries with zero care for the destruction she caused. “That one used to strut in here with different men all the time. Just flaunting his cheating. I always wanted to tell Oakley, but Oakley always came in here with bruises. He would say it was baseball stuff, but I had an abusive husband once too. I know what getting punched in the face looks like.” Hana shook her head. “I was too scared that rotten one would kill Oakley if I told him about the other men. Plus, I didn’t know if maybe he knew, and they had an agreement. I didn’t want to seem nosey or anything.”

Eric would have laughed his ass off at that one if he could fucking breathe. The secrets just kept piling up. What else didn’t he know? Oakley had kept a whole-ass first husband from him. Hell, maybe it wasn’t even his first. Eric could be the third or fourth for all he knew.

Eric quickly paid for his groceries and made his way home. His mind reeled. It was not like Eric hadn’t searched Oakley’s name online. Surely the entire world would have known if Oakley had been married before. Then again, Jakk had kept Eric a secret for years. Eric was a complete mess. He blindly put away thefood. Eric wouldn’t be surprised later if he found milk in the cleaning closet. He simply ran on autopilot. His feet carried him through the large, upscale apartment. All this had belonged to another man once. Were there signs he had missed on that one too? Eric eyed every photo he passed. There was nothing. He wanted to tear the place apart and search every document he found. Eric really wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. It wasn’t about the marriage. Yeah, that bothered him a little. Eric had loved the idea of being the guy who finally caught Oakley. But the fucking secrets. The lies by omission. How could a fresh marriage survive on half-truths? How much more of Oakley’s silence could Eric endure before he broke? He very much feared he was already there. Eric felt sick.

Oakley didn’t feel better today. He had suggested the batting cages, hoping the exercise would loosen up his muscles. If nothing else, he hoped hitting some balls would distract him. He couldn’t get home to Eric fast enough… and a pain pill. Seriously, he was dying.

Last night’s bullshit made Oakley rethink a few things. First off, as much as he loved this city, it maybe wasn’t the best place for him anymore. It wasn’t easy to navigate in his condition andthings would only get worse. That acceptance led to another. Eric and he had promised their lives to each other. Oakley took that seriously. It seemed Eric did too. So Oakley had spent part of his appointment discussing moving his care plan to a doctor in California near Eric’s mom. For better or worse, they were forever, and Oakley needed to be realistic. He needed a wheelchair-friendly home and a simpler town. That also meant—eventually—he would have to tell Eric everything.

The apartment was quiet when Oakley came through the door. He thought Eric was still out until he found him sitting at the table where he had left him.

Oakley put away his bag of prescriptions while eyeing Eric. “Is everything okay?” Eric didn’t look like Eric. The way his eyes burned was a little scary.

“How was your appointment?”

Oakley shrugged. He knew he needed to come clean. This didn’t feel like the right time. There was obviously something bothering Eric. “It was an appointment. Seriously, what’s wrong?”

Eric’s eyes filled with tears. He looked away and cleared his throat. “I keep hoping you’ll eventually just tell the truth, but maybe you don’t know what that is any longer.”

Oh, fuck. That didn’t sound good. Despite his best efforts, a nervous chuckle escaped him. “What do you mean?” He didn’t want to assume anything.

Eric swiped at his eyes and met Oakley’s stare. “I don’t even know where to start with that question. Should we talk about the MS or your first husband first? Was he your first? I mean, it’s not like I know you at all. He could’ve been your fifth for all I know.”

Despite his horror and absolute confusion, Oakley’s knees weakened. He grabbed the edge of the counter to stay upright. Eric shot to his feet, making matters worse. In a moment when Eric should let him fall, he still didn’t.

He helped Oakley to the table. Oakley sat hard and winced. “Maybe let me take a pain pill before we fight.”

A muscle worked in Eric’s jaw, but he opened the cabinet and spun the spice rack. He looked at each bottle before finding the pain meds. After fixing him a glass of water and passing him a pill, Eric reclaimed his seat. All was done in complete silence. Oakley didn’t know if he should scream or cry. Instead, he took his pill and took a breath.

“You’re my first husband, so I’m confused as fuck by that one.”

Eric didn’t soften. “You’re telling me Hana lied about hating the husband before me who always cheated and beat you? Did she imagine all that, or are you saying she’s the consummate liar of you two?”

Oakley flinched. He supposed he deserved that. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Eric sounded truly terrifyingly angry now.

Oakley rushed to fix it. “I swear, you’re my first husband. There was a guy who lived here with me for a couple of years, but we were never married.”

“You never said anything.”

A bitter smile tugged at Oakley’s lips. “Some things are better left in the past and I would never disrespect you by talking about my exes. Plus, he’s a piece of shit. I don’t like remembering him.”

Eric swiped his hand across his eyes before focusing on him again. “I feel like I married a complete stranger. You don’t tell me anything. I had to stand there today and act like I already knew everything Hana said. Just like I had to sit there at the charity game and pretend I knew you have MS while Rocky praised me for not being scared to marry you in spite of your illness.”

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