Page 21 of Tempted Away

“I don’t think anything could have prepared me.”

*****

Kallan had deposited me safely to the entrance of our apartment block, silently waiting until I had entered the foyer before turning and striding away. I watched him retreat until the darkness swallowed him up before heading up. Determined to wait up for Quinn, I sat on the couch, some show I wasn’t watching playing on the TV while I replayed the day.

By the time I hear Quinn’s key rattling in the lock, it’s almost midnight. I’m in a state and I don’t know why. I haven’t done anything wrong, but it somehow feels like I have.

He barely has enough time to put his briefcase down before I launch myself at him. I need to feel his body, his warmth against mine. I need his arms around me to reassure me that he is mine and I am his.

“Whoa, what’s this?” he says, his hands gripping my hips. I want him to pull me in, to press myself against him, but instead of pulling, he pushes slightly, creating a bit of space between us.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?”

I blink quickly, trying to keep the moisture at bay. I want to shout,No, I’m not okay. Everything feels off, and I don’t know why.

Instead, I blink again, cup his cheeks, and whisper, “Nothing, I just missed you.”

I lean up, pressing my lips against his, but instead of the scorching kiss I’m desperate for, he drops a peck before pulling back.

“You had me worried there for a minute,” he chuckles, stepping back and working on the knot of his tie. “Why are you up this late?”

Wrapping my arms around me, I watch as he shrugs off his jacket and sits on the couch.

“I told you, I missed you.”

The seconds tick by while I wait for something from him, anything, but there’s nothing, the TV taking up his attention while he’s flicking through the channels. Dropping my arms, I walk to our room, stopping in the doorway.

“Are you coming to bed?”

“I need to unwind first. You go on ahead. I’ll be there in a bit,” he mutters, his eyes glued to the screen.

Our bed is cold when I get in, the faint sounds of the TV playing in the next room echoing through the room, making me feel lonelier than I’m already feeling. Exhausted, I close my eyes, hoping that sleep will pull me under, but instead, a replay of our life, of things I’ve taken for granted, plays behind my closed lids. Mundane things. Getting ready for bed together. Brushing our teeth side by side. Conversations while I applied my body cream and Quinn trimmed his nails. Getting into bed and snuggling while we whispered in the dark.

I can’t bear it, so I open my eyes, willing the thoughts away. I’m not sure how long I spend staring at the ceiling before I finally fall asleep, but when I wake up the bed next to me is still cold and untouched. A quick look confirms Quinn sprawled on the couch, his feet hanging over the edge. I leave him to sleep and get in the shower, hoping the warm water will warm up this coldness that’s taken root inside me. When I get out of the shower, I hear a cupboard door close in the kitchen, so I know he’s up. A glimmer of blue catches my eye while I’m debating what to wear, and my breath catches on a sob. I was so excited when I bought the dress, but now defeat is a crushing weight dragging me down till I feel like I’m drowning. Are we even still going to celebrate our anniversary?

CHAPTER SEVEN

BAILEY

“THAT’S IT,” Hannah grumbles, throwing her book down in disgust. “You’re not allowed to pick ever again.”

“Come on. It was good.” Rose’s grin is so wide she looks like a grim reaper who’s gotten her weekly quota in one day. I would bet money that she chose this book specifically to wind Hannah up.

“No. There was nothing good about this, and you know it.” She levels her with a glare. “It was depressing, rage-inducing, and stupidly pointless. Rick was a piece of shit excuse for a human being. His wife was a doormat that’s too stupid to live and deserved everything she got, and let’s not talk about the sister. She deserves to die a horrible, horrible death.”

“How can you say that? Nobody deserves what Rick and Julia put her through.”

“Oh, come on. Annie knew Rick was in love with her sister. She took advantage of him when he was drunk and got pregnant on purpose. And Rick, being the spineless douche that he was, married her despite being in love with Julia. Newsflash. We don’t live in the fifties. Nobody gets married because of an unplanned pregnancy.”

“I get that, but she still didn’t deserve what they did to her. I mean, for her sister to sleep with her husband for the duration of her marriage is just cruel. It takes cruel to a whole different level.”

“I think Julia is the actual heroine of this book,” Piper’s dry voice cuts into Hannah and Rose’s argument.

“How so?” Grabbing a chip, I scoop up some of the homemade dip I begged Hannah to bring. I was only kinda joking when she accused me of only being friends with her because of the dip, and I denied it.

“She met Rick first, and she loved him first. Then, while she’s on an overseas assignment, her sister whispers all these lies about her into Rick’s ear and seduces him while he’s drunk. That right there is when she stops being my sister, and I cut all ties with her.”

“But she didn’t cut ties with her. She slept with her husband. That’s so messed up.”

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