Page 3 of The Breaking Point

I step back, smile tight. “Kate works just fine.”

He grins, bleary-eyed. “Sure does. Damn, you clean up nice.”

I cross my arms. “You’re drunk.”

He laughs. “A little. You know, we all thought Aiden was nuts. Tying himself down with babies and a girlfriend while we were still getting wasted on rooftops. But seeing you now…” He lets his eyes drift down, slow. “I kinda get it.”

I don’t answer. Just stare.

“Relax,” he says, holding up both hands like that makes it okay. “I’m just saying, he’s a lucky guy.”

I shift my weight to one hip, spine straightening. “Go back to your friends, Eli.”

He opens his mouth like he's got one more stupid thing locked and loaded, but something in my face makes him think better of it. He gives a sloppy salute, pivots to stumble off. Then stops and turns to drop a bomb on my life.

“I just wish he knew how lucky he was. Back at his bachelor party.”

My stomach tightens. I blink at him, confused.

He smirks; eyes glassy. “I mean... sure, we goaded him. We always do. But no one actually thought he’d take the dare. We just, y’know, ran our mouths. Said he wouldn't do it. Then he disappeared into the back with the stripper.”

My heart doesn’t drop. It slams. Right into my shoes.

He doesn’t notice. Or he does and doesn’t care. Just shrugs. “Didn’t think he had it in him, honestly. Guess he did.”

And just like that, I stop feeling good. The gown’s still perfect. The heels still give me those extra inches. My makeup’s fresh. But everything else?

It crumbles at my feet.

Chapter 2

I just stand there.

Numb.

Too stunned to move, to breathe, to even blink. The hallway hums around me, quiet and low, the echo of Eli’s words still dripping in my ears like a leaky faucet. Disgusting and impossible to ignore.

Truth is... I wondered. I always did.

Back then, I was home with a baby, barely eighteen. He was off at college, in a frat, built like something out of a catalogue. Girls circled him. I knew they did. They always did. And I was scared. Terrified that one day, he’d just stop calling. That he’d forget what we had. That he’d look at someone else and finally realize how boring and tired and soft I’d become.

It got so bad after Jack was born; I stopped eating. Told people I wasn’t hungry. That I’d already had something. I wanted the weight gone. Fast. I wanted to be attractive again. Tight again. Worth something again.

Grandma found out and called him. I’ll never forget the way his voice cracked through the phone when he asked,What the hell are you doing, Katie?

He came home the next day. Angry. Scared. Shaking. He had grabbed me by the shoulders and told me,I love you. Only you. I don’t want anyone else. You’re it for me, okay?

And I believed him. I had to.

After that, whenever the doubts crept in, I’d shut them down with that memory. I’d tell myself;Aiden loves me. Aiden is faithful. We’re forever. Always.

But now… Eli’s voice wedges itself into that memory, twisting it. Warping it. He saidthe back with the stripperlike it was just something that happened. Like it was nothing.

No. Maybe he’s lying. He’s never liked me. Hated that Aiden didn’t screw around like he did. Maybe this is just him taking a shot. One more jab in a long line of them.

I shouldn’t doubt him. Ican’tdoubt him. He’s my husband. My first everything. The boy I fell for when I was sixteen. The boy I trusted with my whole damn heart.

We lost our virginities to each other after junior prom. No one else has ever touched me. No one elsematters. Pressing my palms to my face, I breathe. Just breathe.

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