Page 67 of Indulgence
He frowned. “Isn’t that like a big deal?”
I nodded and sat forward to grab a wing.
“Are you going?”
I shook my head and took a bite. Damn, these were good. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
His forehead scrunched. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, why?”
He leaned over and placed his beer down on the table. “You guys are fighting to put shit back together, and yet, you aren’t going to show up to something you know is a big deal for her?”
“It isn’t as if she invited me or asked me to come.”
He looked at me with disappointment. “Matteo.” His voice was firm. “Natalie’s dealing with jealousy and regret, she’s worried that everything has been ruined. You aren’t showing her it isn’t. Don’t you see that? You put more effort into planning a night for us with your wife than you are putting in to trying to fix your marriage. Come on, dude, you’re better than that.”
“She doesn’t want me there. Her words were something along the lines of wanting to handle onestressorat a time.”
He grunted. “When did you become a pussy?”
So much for watching baseball and hanging low with my buddy. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped back.
He scoffed. “Two months ago, you asked me if I was interested in being a third with you and Nat. No hesitation. No fears. Just straight-up honesty. Now, you’re afraid to piss off the wife you’re trying to win back by supporting her?”
My jaw stiffened, and my teeth clenched. As much as I missed Natalie, I also just wanted a night of not thinking, of not wringing my brain dry.
I ran my hands through my hair. “Listen. I’m tired. I’m tired of playing guessing games as to what may or may not work. I asked her to come home, and she told me not yet. That she needed to get through the stress of opening the new gallery first. Isn’t that a clear message that she wants these two parts of her life separate?”
“Or”—he tilted his beer toward me and raised his eyebrows—“everything goes off without a hitch, and Natalie looks around, taking in all of her hard work, and can’t really enjoy it because you aren’t there to share it with her. You, the person she loves the most, will be the guy who couldn’t be bothered to put aside the argument and be there for her. Weren’t you pissed about the same thing with your promotion just this week? How is she expected to believe that nothing has been ruined then? How can she feel secure in that?”
Fucking Adam.
“Would you be there if everything were right in your world?”
The answer came without any conscious thought. “Yes.”
He sat back and smirked. “Then there’s your answer.”
My mind started weighing each side. Pros and cons. What could go wrong? What could go right?
“Don’t think so hard,” Adam said. “I’m off for the next three. We can head down tomorrow if you want or even Tuesday morning. Road trip. I’ll keep you from losing your mind on the way down. I’m sure Natalie wouldn’t mind the extra celebrant. Too bad we couldn’t get Trev to come. Hey, what does the other married guy say about all this?”
Trevor laughed at me. He couldn’t wrap his head around trying to do something like we did with his wife Audrey. “He told me I better grovel until Natalie said it was enough.”
Adam made it sound simple. Just hop in the car, hang with my bud, and go see my wife. As if it would fix all our problems.
“So, what do you say?” he asked. “Do we need a Road to Portland playlist?”
Seattle hit a home run, and cheers erupted from the speakers. I took it as a positive sign. Three weeks ago, I was desperate to get my wife back. I needed to tap back into that guy. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Natalie
The paintings filled the roomwith a tidal wave of color. Bastien’s work wasn’t about objects and figures but shapes and colors. This new focus was gorgeous splashes of vibrancy that told a story. The canvases started out with blacks and gray and transitioned through the color spectrum into orange and yellow.
It was titledLife in Reverse.
