Page 65 of Boss Level

I was going to chain Dale to the wall by the balls and makehimrealize howhewas acting. “Dad never hit Mom, either. I’m almost certain of it. However, his apologies sounded a lot likeif you wouldn’t make me so madand his declarations of love were more likeyou’re so lucky I married you. Who else would have?” And then he’d laugh, and sayjust kidding.

I’d learned from those examples. The first time he kicked me out was also the last. Mom begged him… and I walked out. I called Xander and made him promise not to tell anyone in town…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, to brush away some of the emotion, and when I looked again, Claire’s fingers were digging into her knees so hard that her knuckles shook.

“Six and a half times,” she said softly. “The first time, I left. When Dale blamed me for… He said it was for burning dinner, but I was pretty sure it was because he’d lost a contract at work. I went to my parents’ house. Mom told me marriages took work. She let me sleep in my old bed that night, then drove me home in the morning and helped me make the most extravagant and perfect meal for dinner that night. All of Dale’s favorites.”

I covered her hands until the shaking stopped. “Being with the wrong person, a person who doesn’t respect you, is far worse than being single.”

“Easy for you to say. You’ve already landed two hotties in your life, and you get to hang out with a third.” Frustration, hurt, and anger bled from Claire’s voice. “Do you think someone like me could land a guy like Xander?”

Hello, raging jealousy. Feel free to find the door. “LikeXander? Yes. You’re smart, you’re talented, and you’re super model gorgeous.”

“You think so?” Pink spread across Claire’s cheeks. “Do you think I could land a woman like you?”

Whoa. Back up.

Snippets of things Claire had said rushed back.

“There’s nothing wrong with being with yourself for a while.”

She scowled. “I’ve beenwith myselffor thirty years.”

“And when you find the right man or woman, they’re not going to care how little or much time you’ve been single.” This conversation had shifted in a way I didn’t expect. I was both grateful for the change, and worried about overloading her tonight with a world different from her own.

Under my touch, Claire’s hands relaxed further, and she turned them so she was holding my hands. “Have you ever been with a girl?” She asked.

“Yes.” I might not want to overwhelm her, but I wouldn’t lie.

“Is it different?”

“Than being with a man?”

She squeezed my hands. “Aren’t you worried about being punished?”

Hell, I’d begged for it on so many occasions. But that wasn’t the right answer here. “We were raised our entire lives with the spoken message ofyour faith is yours. Find your beliefs. Question. Don’t accept others’ answers, find them for yourself. But everything around us said if we didn’t accept the answers others had, we were wrong.”

Claire pulled away from me and ducked her head.

“I found my own answers,” I said. “I stay true to myself first, and myself is attracted to both men and women.” And myself never changed herself for a man, especially not for his work.

Especially not for pretend. The words sank into my bones.

But was it really pretend with Dominic?

Not the time for that line of thought.

“Like in your game?”

I nodded. “Like in my game.”

“I played it.”

The game? My flash of fear wasn’t for what she thought, but around if Dale found out. “At home?”

“At RinCon,” Claire said. “I, umm…” Her blush was back. “I got a room with a kitty girl NPC. She was really pretty—your artists are really good—and the tingles it gave me down there…”

“Did you have fun?” That was all I cared about. Not which character she picked, or anything else aside from did it make her happy.

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