Page 123 of The Husband Game

He’d thought he was past all this.

He’d thought he was past being resentful of his parents.

Years ago, when Charlie had calmly explained what he was struggling with and asked his parents for space, he’d thought maybe he wouldn’t have to completely cut them out of his life. He’d thought maybe they’d respect his boundaries.

But they’d quickly proven otherwise.

His mom had called incessantly. She’d shown up to his building. She’d done everything in her power to find him everywhere he went in person, then followed him around social media.

He’d begged, pleaded, tried to negotiate, then eventually been forced to block her everywhere.

After, she’d turned to trying to contact him through Taylor and his parents.

Charlie had been this close to actually trying to take out a restraining order when it had abruptly stopped.

He’d thought maybe that was the last of it and in the past year or so he’d been lulled into a false sense of security. He’d thought they’d finally understood he wanted nothing to do with them.

But he hadn’t counted on then using his marriage to Dustin as the perfect opportunity to contact him.

A new way for them to get to him.

Charlie shuddered.

“You okay, kitten?” Dustin asked quietly.

Charlie jerked in surprise, realizing he was standing right next to him. “Yeah. Just exhausted.”

He was only kind of lying. He was tired. He’d slept restlessly.

He dumped some cooked oats into a bowl and glared down at them. Ugh. This was going to be a struggle today. He added some yogurt and berries, then forced himself to take a spoonful.

“I’m sorry.” Dustin stepped closer and kissed the top of his head. “We can have a relaxing night tonight, if you want. Once I get home from practice and you get home from work, we can just chill.”

“Nope. We have that interview Wade lined up for us this evening,” he said dully, stirring his oats.

God, how could he eat when his stomach was in knots like this?

“Shit. I almost forgot. Do you want me to reschedule?”

“No. I’ll be fine.” Charlie pasted a smile on his face. “You forget, I’m a pro at interviews. You should have seen the time I did a high-fashion photoshoot while puking up my guts from a nasty case of food poisoning.”

A little frown furrowed Dustin’s brow. “I don’t doubt you’re capable of it. But you don’t have to do it if you don’t want. We’ll either reschedule or totally cancel.”

“You’re way too nice to me,” he said with a bitter laugh.

Dustin frowned. “No such thing. You deserve that.”

“Do I?”

Dustin set down his dirty plate and silverware and cupped his cheek. “Charlie, you deserve to be treated nicely. Whatever your parents did, that’s on them, not you.”

Charlie looked up at him and his eyes watered at the sincerity in his gaze. “You must be regretting this fake marriage now.”

“Not a chance.”

“Even though we got cockblocked by my mommy issues last night?” Charlie asked, his tone laced with sarcasm.

“We’re friends. I want you to be happy. I like having you in my life whether we’re having sex or not.”

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