Page 109 of The Lessons

“Found out what?”

“Found out about everything: me, him, the kid. Jesus, Ry, for a Ph.D. candidate, you sure can be dense sometimes.”

“Give me a break, Lisa. It’s 6:45 in the morning.”

“Whatever. That is the least of my problems right now. Don’t bother meeting us at the marina. You’re free to go back to little miss virgin-pants.”

“Her name is Natalie,” I said, my voice still horse from the early hour.

“Whatever. Enjoy yourself. And Ryan?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy-fucking-graduation.”

Chapter Thirty-seven

Tuesday - Fifteen days P.R.A.

Natalie

I had a new mantra. Something that probably ninety-nine percent of women had already figured out, but hey, I’d never been the first to the party. Why start now?

Wanna know what it was?

Sex is not love.

Yep. Repeat it with me. Sex is not love.

Sex is not love.

~

“Hey.”

I looked up. Renee was standing at the door to my office. Her hair was matted, and she was wearing a sweatshirt with her dress pants.

Renee never wore sweatshirts.

“Hey, Renee, there you are. Were you out yesterday? I didn’t see you.”

She shut the door and sat down, which immediately made me sit up a little taller. I also noticed she wasn’t wearing any makeup. Her features looked much more delicate without it.

“Ha, I wish. I had to take a personal day.” She paused and swallowed. “I’m getting divorced.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. Derek’s been cheating on me. I feel like such a fool.” She started to tear up, so I offered her a tissue.

“That’s nuts. You guys have been together forever. How do you know? Are you sure?”

“Oh, I’m sure, I walked in on them on Saturday after my yoga class was cancelled. They were in our bed, Nat. Can you believe that? Our fucking bed!” She was getting angry now, and honestly, I was relieved. It was better to see her angry than sad.

“That’s horrible,” I offered. “Did you know her?”

Renee nodded. “Yeah. Actually, I think you know her boyfriend. Ryan? The guy at the café? We ran into him a few weeks ago?”

I froze as I slowly understood what she was saying. “Wait. So Lisa was sleeping with your husband?”

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