Page 8 of Breaking Bristol

They both gasped, and Lauren spun around, and for some insane reason, she covered her breasts. “Beck! What are you doing here?”

I tossed the flowers on the bed and huffed out a breath. “Nothing anymore. I was just leaving.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

She was like a deer caught in headlights, and when I looked closely at her, she was unrecognizable. “I don’t think there’s even a part of me that wants to know why because nothing you could say would make this make sense.” She opened her mouth, and I slashed my hand through the air and pointed at her. “You’ve got two days to get your shit and get the fuck out. My lawyer will have divorce papers ready by the end of the week.”

“Beck, no. Wait!” She yanked a sheet off the bed, and I finally got a good glimpse of the man lying there, my stomach turning in disgust at his beer gut and sweaty skin.

I shook my head as Lauren reached me and took a huge step back when she said my name and pleaded for me to stay. “You had the last year to talk to me. I asked you to talk to me over and over, and you didn’t say shit. The time for me to listen is done because this clearly says all I need to know.”

“Please, wait. Let me explain.”

I scoffed. “Let you explain what? How when I was gone you’d gone blind so when a man crawled into our bed naked, you thought it was me? Even though I don’t know how that’s possible since a man who’d sleep with a married woman has no scruples, making him not a man, but a eunuch.”

The bastard looked confused, then started moving, turning to the side of the bed and reaching for his boxers. “Hey. Fuck you, man.”

No clue why, but Lauren tried to referee the situation. “Stop. Both of you. Beck, please…”

I wanted to say things to her, wanted to scream them until my throat was sore, but even being a cheater, she was still the woman I’d married. She was the woman I was going to make a family with. We were supposed to grow old together, and I just couldn’t treat her like crap even though she deserved it. So I ignored her and took my anger out on this asshole. “Fuck you, you piece of shit. Feel good, gettin’ your rocks off in my bed? You like fuckin’ a woman with a ring on her finger?” He got to his feet, and I glanced at his hand to find what I suspected I would. “Maybe I’ll go find your wife and have her ride me good.”

“Fuck you!” he yelled and came at me.

Lauren put her hands on his chest because she knew that would end badly. “You don’t wanna do that.” I’d been boxing since I was twelve, and there was no way this prick could end up on top… unless it was with my wife, apparently. I laughed. I guess getting your gut kicked in by the person who was supposed to love you the most made your thoughts irrational.

Leaving this clusterfuck behind, I made my way down the hall and stopped at the top of the stairs. I looked at Lauren with disgust. “Just in case it’s not clear, we’re done.” She had the audacity to cry. “Not only did you do this shit to me but you’re screwing over another woman, possibly their children, by letting this coward screw you.”

“You motherfucker.” He grunted against Lauren’s hold. “I’m not a coward.” Guess I hit a nerve.

My lip curled, and I jogged down the steps, avoiding our wedding pictures, and out the front door, with no destination in mind. I was just going to walk until I was far away from her. And him. I’d gotten to the curb and was about to cross the street when he yelled, “Don’t walk away from me.”

“You’re not worth my time.” I flicked my hand in the air. “Might as well go finish screwing my wife. I wouldn’t want you getting blue balls. Oh wait, I almost forgot, you don’t have any.”

“Fuck you!” His voice got louder, and I spun just as he reached me in nothing but a pair of shorts, fist high in the air, teeth bared.

I easily stepped to the side as he swung, but my punch was quicker, and I jabbed his face. He swayed back, and I sighed like I was bored. “I already told you, you don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, we’re doing this, you asshole.”

“Why?”

“Nobody disrespects me,” he spat.

I actually laughed so hard that I snorted. Jesus Christ, what did she see in this loser? “Seriously, walk away.” I turned my back to him, and just as I stepped onto the street, I heard his pathetic war cry.

When I turned, he had his fist raised, and it was like slow motion as he charged me. When I ducked out of the way, then hit him with an uppercut, he wobbled and crumpled to the ground. His legs gave out, and he went down, his head bouncing off the curb, and the piercing crack his skull made against the concrete was sickening.

His body was motionless, and I was at his side in the blink of an eye. “Call 9-1-1!” I yelled to anyone who would hear and vaguely heard Lauren screaming.

I did everything I could despite the empty look in his eyes telling me there was no chance, and even though he was the man who’d ruined my life, I still tried to save his.

My fingers balled into fists, and I flexed them, the memory coming out of nowhere. Shaking the thoughts that had become fewer and farther between, I headed to the house.

“There he is.”

“There she is.” I met my aunt Heidi on the porch, and she held my cheeks, studying my face. She gave one side a loving pat, then pulled me down to kiss my forehead. I noticed I had to bend a little farther as age was taking its toll on her. “Glad you could finally join us.”

“Sorry it took so long. I’ve been pulling a lot of extra shifts.” I was one of the only doctors not married with kids, and I had no problem covering so they could be with their families during Christmas. I got inside and was assaulted with the delicious smell of roasted chicken along with a hint of something sweet.

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