Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
“We’ll talk when we get home,” he says.
That’s when he should have told me I was being silly and that he does love me. But no, those words don’t leave his mouth.
And his silence alone breaks my heart a little more.
I pull my arm free and walk out straight to the waiting car.
And I go home.
Alone.
Kyler doesn’t show up until I’m fast asleep that night. And even if I’d been awake, by then, I didn’t have the energy to talk to him.
When I wake the next morning, I turn over to see him lying on his stomach, still sleeping. I grab my phone and flick it open while I wait for him to rouse.
* * *
Unknown: I prefer my ladies in red. Dress in red.
* * *
I stare at the message, confused. I go to delete it, and then I realize who it’s from.
* * *
Me: I prefer my men dressed in pink. Dress in pink.
* * *
“You’re awake.” I turn to see Kyler with one eye open, his face smooshed into his pillow as he looks at me.
“Yes. Seems you didn’t come home at a decent enough time to talk. Does us as a couple even matter to you anymore?” I get straight to it because I no longer care.
He groans and turns onto his back. “Of course you matter.”
“So, do you love me?” As I say it, I hear how desperate it sounds. I shouldn’t be asking my husband these questions. I should know, without a doubt, he does.
“You know I do,” he replies.
“You may love me, Kyler, but are you still in love with me?”
“What does that even mean?” he asks, shaking his head and getting up from the bed like I’m bothering him. Like my questions mean nothing. My eyes are locked on him as he stands, he reaches for his basketball shorts, slides them on, and walks to the door.
“It means you stay and talk instead of running off like a bitch.”
His hand grips the doorknob as he sucks in a breath and turns around to face me. “Where has this attitude come from?” My frustration rises as his head leans to the side. It’s condescending before he even speaks, “Have I not been showing you enough affection?”
“I’m not a dog, Kyler,” I bite back. My phone dings and I pay it no mind.
“I never once said you were.”
“Just answer me,” I beg, and I hate myself for it.
“I can’t,” he says simply, and I feel something deep inside of me shatter and break. I mean, I’ve always known the truth but never had to face it until now. We were so great for so many years. Or maybe that was merely what I wanted to think, and behind it all was some sort of façade.
“I’m going to make this easier on both of us.” I stand from the bed. “I’ll move out, find a place not far from here, find someone to replace me, and go from there.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” Kyler says, his tone growing urgent. But I know it’s not because he’s afraid of losing my love.
“So what do you want?” I ask. He scratches the back of his head, and I watch his arm muscles flex. “See, you can’t even answer that.” I shake my head. “I’ve been trying, Kyler. You and me? I thought we would last forever. Through fame and everything else, we stuck it out, yet here we are…in this situation.” I grind my teeth when he shows me no emotion. “You can’t seem to do it, so I guess I’ll have to be the one to handle this.” Walking to the closet, I grab a suitcase and throw it open and start packing.
“What about my meetings?” My hand freezes, and I spin on my knees to see him staring at me. He’s unbelievable.
“That’s what you’re worried about as your wife sits in our closet packing her things? You’re worried about your meetings?” I ask incredulously.
“Well, no…and yes.” I grunt and turn back to continue packing. “I don’t want you to leave, Oriana, but I’m not going to stop you either.”
“I want a man to stop me, Kyler. I want a man who is crazy for me. Someone for whom the thought of me leaving him sends him into a blinding rage. You just aren’t that man, are you?” Glancing back at him, I see him looking down at his phone. I grab the nearest shoe and hurl it at him. “You see that shoe right there? I got that at one of Jake’s clubs when I was almost raped, you prick. He saved me, got me a doctor, and all the while, you didn’t even know I didn’t come home. Or should I say you didn’t care.”
“Jake?” he asks, surprised. “You went to a sex club?” He stares at me with a dazed look of bewilderment which tells me everything I need to know.