Page 395 of The Sinner: James

“Eve has this great idea. I told her I was spending time alone, and she suggested I should spend time in New York with her instead of waiting for you at home. This way, I could work in the mornings and meet her in the evenings. She’d come to our place, and it could be fun,” I say, warming up to the idea.

“Okay.”

“You sound skeptical.”

“No, I don’t.”

Yes, he does.

“I would be writing and enjoying her company. And then, when you come home, I could fly back with you.”

He ponders.

I wait.

“Okay. You do what you think is best for you,” he says, a bit tense.

“It’s the same as if I lived in Colorado. Why are you reserved about it?”

“I’m not,” he says, pushing off the table and heading to the shower.

He sheds his shirt, no longer looking at me.

“James?”

The door slams over my question.

His answer couldn’t be more evident.

Shit.

I crash into a chair, a long sigh falling from my lips.

“This thing only gets worse,” I murmur to myself before I scoop out my phone from my purse and start typing.

Me: Are you asleep?

The answer comes immediately.

Eve: No. Aren’t you two catching up?

A few winking emojis follow her message.

Me: We just had a fight.

Eve: You couldn’t help yourself, could you?

Me: I didn’t plan to.

Eve: You were fuming the entire evening.

Me: Well... It was the wrong move. I told him about your idea of living in New York when he is gone, and it ticked him off.

Eve: That’s not good. Where is he?

Me: In the bathroom. He’s taking a shower. I shouldn’t have brought it up, and my idea only gnawed at our already crumbling trust.

Eve: Fix it.

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