Page 8 of What Broke First
“I don’t like that you’re playing house with her,” she snapped. “I don’t like that you’re trying to have both worlds.”
“I’m not,” he said quietly. “My world is gone. I just want to be a good dad.”
Lily’s expression cracked. Just slightly. “So, what am I? A layover?”
Matt looked up, eyes tired. “Honestly? I don’t know what this is anymore.”
That was the wrong answer. Lily threw the wine glass at the wall. It shattered in an expensive splash.
“I left everything for you!” she screamed. “I ruined my reputation for you!”
He stood still, glass crunching underfoot. “And I ruined my family for you. So maybe we’re even.”
The silence after that was thick. Lily turned away, rolling her eyes in an angry huff.
He didn’t sleep in her bed. After the fight fizzled into silence, Matt grabbed a pillow off the couch and made his way to the spare bedroom, the one with the unpacked boxes and mismatched linens. It wasn’t meant for guests, just overflow. Just temporary.
That felt fitting.
He lay on top of the thin blanket, staring at the ceiling fan that clicked with every turn, thinking about all the choices that had led him here. Not home.
The next morning, Matt woke up stiff, the spare room unfamiliar and cold. The fitted sheet was halfway off the mattress, and someone had left a laundry basket full of bras, panties, and socks on the dresser. Definitely not his space.
He got dressed quietly and stepped into the kitchen. Lily was standing by the sink, scrolling through her phone. No eye contact. No morning-after lecture.
She set the phone down. “You still want to go to the market or not?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
She grabbed her bag and sunglasses. “Then let’s go.”
No apologies. No unpacking the night before. Just silence filling in for peace.
An hour later, they were walking through the town square, plastic shopping bags in hand, trying but failing to make up for the night before. Then it happened. Sarah.
Matt spotted her before Lily did. She was with the kids. No makeup. Hair tied back. Still radiant. Still real.
The tension arrived like weather.
Lily noticed the shift in his posture and followed his gaze. “Oh,” she said. Her lips curled. Then she possessively curled her arm around Matt’s and sneered in Sarah’s direction.
Matt felt his stomach turn.
Sarah stood protectively in front of the children, her arms resting gently on their shoulders. She said nothing at first. Just nodded once, calm and steady.
Tommy was oblivious. “We got ice cream!” he shouted, holding up his cone.
Matt smiled, trying to match the moment. “That’s great, buddy.”
Sarah’s voice was even. “Can I talk to you?”
Matt untangled himself from Lily’s arm and followed Sarah a few feet away. He already knew what this would be.
“I don’t want her around the kids,” Sarah said, low and sharp. “It’s confusing.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I get it. But she’s... part of my life now.”
“Well, she shouldn’t be,” Sarah quipped.
