Page 98 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

A future that was snatched from us by a lie.

He didn’t cheat.

He pulls me across so my head can rest on his chest, and I sigh with contentment as I listen to the steady thrum of his heart.A heart I know was synchronized with my own long before we ever met. I inhale the familiar scent of his cologne.

“Only if I get to go first.” The same condition as I had way back then when Pandora opened her box to reveal her nine-year-old secret. That for all that time, Irish had loved me too.

He chuckles. “You drive a hard bargain, darlin’. Go on then, seeing as it’s you.”

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with D.”

I can feel his thick swallow as we replay the past.

“Devastatingly handsome Irishman.” Same answer.

A pause.

“Jaine.” A hesitant whisper.

“Irish.”

“Can I change the game?”

“To?”

“Truth or dare.”

It’s my turn to swallow thickly, as I know I have far more truths to reveal than he has. Is here and now the right time or place?

“Okay, but only if I get to go first.”

“Out with it, then. Pick your evil.”

“Truth.” I pause. “How did you know where I was?”

He sighs deeply before replying. “Dylan told me you had gone AWOL, so I decided to come here to pray before starting my search for you. You know, being the good Irish Catholic boy that I am.” We both chuckle. “I could feel your soul reaching out to mine just as I was leaving.” He pauses. “Do you remember what I said to you all those years ago, Jaine?” His tone is serious now.

I nod. I know exactly what he’s referring to.

“Our souls have always been intertwined. You feel that too, darlin’?”

“I still believe that. I felt the connection today. The last time I felt it was at St. Patrick’s on my wedding day. I knew you were there.”

I’m not sure when I realize that the material of his shirt is now wet with my silent tears. “I know you did. I saw you searching for my face in the crowd.”

“What the fuck happened to us, Jaine?” I can hear the break in his voice—the raw emotion at the sheer unfairness of it all.

“Life happened.” A sob-whisper.

“I cheated on you, that’s what happened.”

I pause. It’s time for the first reveal. “Ask me to tell you a truth, Irish.”

“Tell me a truth.”

I pause. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

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