Page 86 of Dirty Groom (Slayers Hockey 7)

“What’s up, honey?”

“It’s about Liam.” My next breath comes as easily as freeing the words I’ve held back for more than a year. “I haven’t been honest with you. And I’m sorry.”

From his perch on the arm of the couch, my dad furrows his brows. “Are you okay?”

It ought to be easy to answer, but there are so many caveats, all I can do is give up a quiet laugh and shake my head.

Ray sits forward. “Problems with the hockey player?”

Instead of answering, I focus on my parents. “The truth is, Liam and I didn’t get married this summer. Our wedding was on Christmas Eve… over a year ago. I married him the night I was supposed to marry Ray.”

Ray’s breath leaves his lungs in a punch, and this time I manage to find a modicum of sympathy for him.

“We met in Vegas. Both of us coming off bad breakups, neither of us thinking too clearly.”

“My God,” Michelle gasps. “All this because Ray wasn’t faithful almost ten years ago?”

I meet the eyes of the woman who has been a second mother to me my entire life, feel her hurt and confusion like it’s my own, and shake my head.

“Stormy,” Ray says sternly.

“I’m sorry Michelle, Charlie. The night before the wedding—”

“Stormy!”

“—I walked in on Ray with another woman.”

My dad jerks to his feet, but I need to get this out. “That’s why I left in the middle of the night. I was devastated. I washumiliatedand overwhelmed, and I ran. All the way to Las Vegas, where I met a guy who’d been burned as badly as I had. We got drunk. We got married. And then we didn’t see each other for a year.”

The room is silent, my dad glaring at Ray. The Hales look like they’re going to cry.

“When I came home, I couldn’t handle everyone I know and work with and love realizing what a complete and utter fool I’d been. I didn’t want to lose their respect when one day, they’ll be trusting their livelihoods to me. So, I went along with Ray's untruth… or partial truth.”

I turn to Ray, whose head is hanging in defeat. “I’m assuming you actually were sleeping around ten years ago, but honestly, I don’t care. The point is, I’m done. Done running. Done hiding. And for all the ways this company is interwoven with the rest of my life, the one thing I hope is that my personal and professional lives can be kept separate. My love life might be a trainwreck, but in this company, I perform. I’m capable.”

Michelle leans forward, blinking back tears. “Sweetheart, that has never been in question.”

“She’s right.” Charlie shakes his head. “You could take the reins of this place tomorrow, and everyone under this roof would know they were in good hands. And I’m sorry.” He’s speaking to me but staring at his son. “For every time we pushed. We love you so much. We wanted you to be our daughter in name the way you already are in our hearts.”

I go to him and step into the hug so familiar and comforting, I have to choke back the tears. Michelle’s arms come around us too, and my parents each lay a hand on my back and arm.

When I step back, I take a deep breath and give them the rest.

“When Liam and I reconnected, we made an agreement.”

My dad’s expression is pained. “Let me guess. You wanted us to stop pushing for a reconciliation with Ray.”

I duck my head, hating that the people I love are hurting. “More or less.”

“Honey, we’re so sorry.” My mom. “If we’d known—”

“I should have been honest, but instead, Liam and I decided to pretend the marriage was real, and after two years we’d have an amicable divorce. It wasn’t supposed to be more than that. But then I did the one thing we swore we wouldn’t do. I fell in love with him.”

Ray’s shoulders drop. Our parents are stunned into silence.

“I love him. But that wasn’t part of the plan, and for various reasons, we’ve been living apart for a while. The issues that drove him to Vegas in the first place have resurfaced. I want to be there for him. I want us to face whatever the future holds together, but I’m not sure that’s what he wants.”

“He’s a fool if he doesn’t want you,” Ray says quietly.

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