Page 110 of Man Advantage

Bryan winced, and I prayed like hell I’d hit the mark I was aiming for. After a long, silent moment, he quietly said, “You’re right.”

It took all I had not to blink in actual surprise and ask,“I am?”That would only set him off.

“I’m sorry, Trev,” he said softly. “I… no, we don’t have to be friends. But you’re right. We’ve driven enough wedges between us without someone else making it worse.”

I had to fight hard not to snap back that“we”hadn’t driven the enormous wedge that broke us up. “I just want us to be able to raise the boys as best we can. Ideally without one of us getting shipped off to the other side of the country or something, which is still on the table if the club decides to trade me.”

He grimaced. “I’m sorry.”

“I know. And what you decide to do going forward with Chats—that’s up to you. But there have to be some boundaries between him and me.” I hardened my voice a little. “And about what he says in front of our children.”

Defensiveness flared in Bryan’s expression, but it quickly died away. Anger surged in me; here I’d tried to believe Chatshadn’ttalked shit about me in front of our boys. Or that my ex-husbandwouldn’tallow it.

A pair of familiar thoughts drifted to the front of my mind, laced with more disgust than sadness this time.

Whathappenedto us?

What the fuck did I everseein you?

“I’m sorry,” Bryan said again. “We’ll work on it. I’ll talk to Tim. And we’ll…” He swallowed again, refusing to look at me. “You’re right that I need to do better. That we—me and Tim—need to do better.”

Somehow, it seemed like it should be more satisfying to hear him say that. If anything, it just made me feel like I could finally release my breath. Like a hard-fought battle was over. “Okay. That’s all I ask.”

He nodded silently.

“I’m, uh… I’m going to head home.”

Another nod.

I turned to go, already mentally shifting gears toward the conversation I needed to have once I got there.

“Trev.”

I faced my ex-husband again, and I was surprised to see an even more contrite and exhausted version of him. “Hmm?”

He glanced over his shoulder as if to check on the boys. Then he faced me again, took a deep breath, and set his shoulders back, though that didn’t do much for his wilted posture. “Maybe… Maybe we should look into some counseling again.As a family. It won’t bring us back together, but co-parenting… navigating things with the boys and whoever we’re dating…”

The suggestion almost sent me back a step. “You’d be willing to do that?”

Bryan nodded. “I, um… I think we should’ve stuck with it before.” He hesitated, then whispered, “I’m sorry, Trev. I really am.”

I pressed my lips together. After a moment, I said, “If you’re willing to set something up, I’m willing to go.”

There was a flash of irritation in his eyes—probably at the idea that he had to do the legwork. Quite frankly, I thought that was a fair trade. I’d made plenty of mistakes with him, but the mess we were in right now was the result of his choices. Seemed like the least he could do was find us a counselor and get the ball rolling.

Evidently, he either agreed or didn’t want to argue anymore, because he sighed and nodded. “Okay. I’ll look around online and text you.”

“All right. Do you need the team’s schedule?”

“No. I have it.” He shifted his weight, not meeting my eyes. “And I’ll make sure there’s some flexibility.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

After that, I left, and he let me go this time. In the parking lot, I started the engine, but just sat there for a moment. That had probably been the most productive conversation we’d had since long before the divorce. I was wrung out and exhausted, but I also felt like we’d finally gotten somewhere. Not enough to reconcile—that ship had sailed—but enough that maybe we could function like civil adults while we raised our boys.

It was a big step in the right direction. I’d take it.

With a heavy sigh, I started out of the condo parking lot. This day had taken a lot out of me, but it wasn’t over yet.

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