Page 90 of Vow to Hate You

He grinned before brushing his lips over my cheek. I opened my mouth, almost blurting out how I’ve been playing music at the clubs since I’d been back. Even though it wasn’t as often as I liked, I’d been DJing at some well-known places in the last couple of weeks. On those nights, Damian believed I was spending time with Char. My chest tightened with the tiniest tug of guilt for keeping this to myself.

But I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Playing music was the one thing that brought me joy, and while I trusted Damian wouldn’t stop me from doing it, I wasn’t ready to share it yet. Not until I knew for sure he was being serious about making this marriage work.

“Good.” Damian’s eyes lowered to my lips, and for half a second, I nearly raised on my tiptoes to kiss him. Ever since I told him not to kiss me on the lips, he hadn’t tried.

My heart lurched when a realization slammed into me. My music made me happy; there was no denying that. But the longer I was here, the clearer it became.

Being near Damian made me happy too.

CHAPTER 37

damian

“Talie is gonna work at the club?” Ash asked in disbelief.

I sipped my whiskey. “Yes. I already had the NDAs drafted for all the employees to sign before she comes in.”

Rhyett stared at me from across the table with a hint of a smirk. “How’d she talk you into that?”

“Things have changed. She doesn’t completely hate me anymore.”

Ash barked out a laugh. “Holy shit. You slept with her, didn’t you?”

His question earned a glare from the women who were at the table near ours. Ash shot them a polite smile before focusing back on our conversation. We were at an upscale restaurant in the city, having drinks before I had to meet my father.

“Where is she tonight?” Rhyett asked.

“With her sister.”

Ash arched an eyebrow. “You don’t know where she is?”

“I’m not her keeper. She’s my wife,” I ground out. “I know she’s not getting herself in trouble.”

“Fuck,” Ash muttered, reaching for his wallet. “You did sleep with her.”

Rhyett had a shit-eating grin on his face when Ash shoved a thick wad of bills onto the table. Rhyett grabbed it and made a show of counting as Ash caught the attention of the waitress to order another round of drinks.

I watched their interaction with a frown. “Did you two bet on when I’d sleep with her?”

Rhyett scoffed. “Hey, I lost thousands five years ago after you two got married. Back then, I’d given it only a month.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Keep my marriage out of your damn bets.”

“Is it real?” Rhyett asked quietly, meeting my eyes. “Or are you two still playing your games?”

Ash snorted. “When wasn’t it real? The only two who didn’t realize it was Damian and Talie.”

“Yes, it’s real,” I sighed. “At least I hope so. She still isn’t ready to let me all the way in.”

I had to admit the last week since we talked, she had opened up more than I expected. Though she wasn’t fully happy—and I had a feeling she wouldn’t be if we stayed in this life where she didn’t have the freedom she craved.

Ash shrugged. “She will. You two would have ended up together, even if the marriage didn’t happen.”

His confidence made me chuckle. Before I could respond, a shadow fell over the table, and I turned to see Percy standing there. My good mood faded in a heartbeat, and I leveled him with a hard stare.

“What do you want?” Rhyett asked bluntly.

Percy glanced at the empty chair at our table, shifting on his feet when none of us offered it to him. He pursed his thin lips, pulling the chair out and sitting down, anyway.

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