Page 53 of Bad Decisions

Not that I'd ever had a fucking inkling that they'd ever had non-platonic feelings for each other.

I'd shared my marital problems with the fucking guy. And he was the cause of most of them! He'd consoled me. He'd clapped my shoulder, promised everything would be alright, that Meredith would find her way.

Yeah, she'd found her way. Straight into his fucking arms. Into his bed.

Rage boiled under my skin. How could they do this to me?

I hadn't thought Drake was my best friend, but I'd thought he was at least a friend. Is this why he'd become more active in our lives over the last year? Always coming around?

I felt like a fucking fool.

They'd rubbed it in my face and I hadn't even known. They probably laughed about it together, thinking I was such an idiot.

How many lingering glances had I ignored? How many stolen kisses had they shared under our roof? Had she fucked him in our bed?

I squeezed my eyes shut at the images assaulting my mind.

Meredith was going to leave me, take Emma from me, and go live with him. She was going to take me out of her life, and slot him in, like nothing had changed. Like I didn't even fucking exist.

Why had I been so willfully ignorant? I ignored red flags. Maybe it was easier to do that than acknowledge the truth. But if I had, maybe I wouldn't feel so fucking sick right now.

17

reagan

The front door banged open,and I snatched Emma up before bolting to my feet, ready to flee in the opposite direction. Elliot stumbled in, his clothes disheveled, his hair a wreck, one of his shoes untied.

I'd never seen him look like this.

Unease swirled in my belly as I set Emma back on the couch. Warily, I took a step forward.

"Eli?" I murmured. He braced his hand on the wall while he struggled to kick one of his shoes off with the other foot.

"Damn thing," he grumbled, stumbling forward a step and nearly falling. He caught himself at the last moment and went back to trying to take his shoe off.

"Elliot." His bloodshot eyes lifted to mine. He looked haggard—worsethan haggard. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he slurred and turned his attention back to his feet. I moved closer to him, ignoring the thick alcohol scent wafting off him. He groaned when his shoe slid against the other, still not coming off.

"Go sit down," I sighed, rubbing my forehead. I needed to get Emma to bed before she realized something was really wrong with him. He ignored me as he tripped over his feet again. "Elliot! Go sit down." He jolted at my tone, his eyes widening as he stared at me. "Please."

He didn't look happy about it, but he trudged to the couch and sank onto the opposite end from Emma. She stared at him with giant eyes.

"Why don't you go play with Uni in your room?" I said softly as I approached her. She didn't look at me. She just continued staring at Eli. God, I was going to smack him for this.

If he wanted to get drunk, that was fine. But he could wait until after she'd already gone to bed. She didn't need to see him like this.

Anger surged in my veins. How fucking immature was he? How selfish? He clearly drove home wasted off his ass. What if he'd gotten into an accident? Emma could've lost her only parent left.

"Go on, honey," I said softly, smoothing my hand over her silky hair. Finally, she looked up at me.

"Is Daddy okay?" she whispered. I glanced over my shoulder, finding his head lolled back and mouth open.

No.

He very clearly wasn't okay.

"He's fine," I lied, and smiled gently at her. "He's just tired." She looked like she didn't believe me. I didn't blame her. I was a terrible liar.

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