Page 12 of Divorced from Number Thirty-Eight
And I can’t breathe, no matter how hard my lungs work to draw in breath.
Get up, Faye. Get. Up!
I shove up to my hands and knees, try to crawl forward.
I don’t make it far.
Lack of oxygen has weakness seeping into my legs, my arms, and the fabric of my tank top isn’t protecting me any longer, not with the heat and smoke closing in.
It’s so dark, so disorienting…
I don’t know how to get out, don’t know how to do this…
Alone.
But just as those words slide through my mind, as my arms give way and I crumple to the floor?—
There’s a loud crash.
I finally spot the front door, giving way in a splintering of wood, a shattering of glass.
And the last thing I see before black sucks me under…
Is the gorgeous man from next door.
Five
Gray
“You’re her husband?” the nurse asks skeptically.
Rightfully so.
Because I know fuck-all about Faye.
And I don’t think me telling the nurse that she has Wine Nights with the neighborhood ladies and works from home would help endear me to him.
“Uh, yeah?” I say, even though it’s definitely phrased like a question—but me flashing my ID and pretending to be Faye’s husband meant that I was able to ride with her in the ambulance, and it allowed me back into the emergency department so she wouldn’t be alone.
Not that she knows she’s alone.
She’s still unconscious.
“I thought you were married to that blonde chick.”
I freeze, stomach starting to churn. Hockey players aren’t in the news all that often, but over the years, Courtney has enjoyed parading our drama across social media—which means my life is far more out there than I’d want. Hell, a few times her posts have gone viral enough that I’ve been asked about it during post-game interviews.
Fun.
Not.
I grit my teeth together, shake my head. “Nah,” I say, forcing my tone to stay light. “Don’t believe everything you read online.” Especially when I’ll be giving my attorney the divorce papers (thank fuck, Courtney finally signed them) to file as soon as possible.
Once a judge approves them, Courtney and I will be officially done.
So why is there a niggling in the back of my mind, telling me it will never be that simple?
Probably because it’s Courtney.
