Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 42745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
He swallows hard. “Because maybe I’m trying to do the right thing.”
I stare at him as if doing it hard enough will help me understand what he’s trying to say. “The right thing? What does that even mean?”
He gestures to me. “For you.”
Anger rises fast. “You don’t get to decide what’s right for me.”
He sighs. “I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.” My voice shakes, but I keep going. “I had planned on coming home, Penn. I really did. But then I read that text, and all I could think was that maybe you want me to find someone else.”
His chair scrapes back, and for a second, I think he’s going to stand. He doesn’t. He just leans closer, his face hard and his eyes full of possession. “I don’t want you to find someone else.”
I open my mouth to argue with him, but he continues on, his voice sounding even more lethal. “I don’t want another man looking at you. I don’t want another man touching you. I don’t want another man making you laugh or holding your hand or knowing what you look like first thing in the morning.”
“Penn—”
“No.” His voice is low, but there’s no missing the edge in it. “If I saw you with someone else, I’d probably end up in jail.”
My eyes widen.
He lets out a rough breath and looks away for a second, like he’s trying to pull himself back together. “I’m not proud of that,” he says. “But it’s the truth.”
I stare at him, completely confused. “Then why are you acting like you want me gone?”
CHAPTER 13
PENN
I look back at her, and there’s so much hurt in her eyes that it hits me right in the chest. I did that to her.
I shake my head, and the words are out before I can stop them. “Because loving you and being good for you don’t feel like the same thing anymore.”
Aria sits back in her chair, confusion all over her face. “What does that mean?”
I shake my head. I can’t answer that here. Not in the middle of the hospital cafeteria with people walking by and half the staff pretending not to notice us.
“No,” she says, her voice sharp. “Don’t do that. Don’t say something like that and then shut down.”
“I’m not trying to shut down.”
“Then talk to me.”
My jaw tightens. God, I want to. She deserves the truth, and she deserves to hear it from me. But then I look at my wife, and I can’t make myself say it. She’s going to be devastated when she finds out. So all I do is sit there and stare at her.
She lets out a laugh, but there’s nothing funny about it. “Unbelievable.”
I reach for her, but she jerks away from my touch.
“Aria.”
“No.” She grabs her phone and pushes her chair back. “You came over here, asked if I was okay, basically asked if I was dating, told me you’d go to jail if I was with someone else, and then you still won’t tell me what this is.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t ask if you were dating.”
She gives me a look.
I exhale. “Fine. Maybe I did.”
“You did.”
“Fuck.” I drag a hand over my face. “I’m sorry. I had no right.”
She jabs her finger against the table. “You’re my husband, Penn. What do you mean you don’t have any right? None of this makes any sense, but I’m starting to piece it together.”
My whole body goes still. “What does that mean?”
She throws her hands up. “What is it? You don’t want me, but you want to string me along just in case you change your mind? Is that it?”
I stare at her, shocked. “What? No. Of course not.”
She thinks I don’t want her. After everything, after all the ways I’ve touched her and loved her and wanted her, that’s what I’ve made her believe. I take a deep breath, but it doesn’t help. “I love you.”
Her eyes shine with tears. “I know you do.”
She looks so sad it takes everything in me not to pick her up and cradle her against my chest.
She shakes her head. “But I don’t know if you want the same life I want anymore,” she whispers. “And I don’t know how to come home when you won’t tell me the truth.”
I look down at the table because I can’t face the pain I’m causing her.
She stands, and every instinct in me screams to reach for her.
“I have a patient,” she says.
I lift my eyes to hers. “Aria.”
She pauses, and for one second, I swear I see hope on her face.
I open my mouth and stutter out, “There’s no reason for both of us to be sleeping on couches. Go home. It’s yours.”
Her face falls, and I hate myself for it.
She nods once and turns away.
She makes it three steps before I can’t stop myself. “I don’t want you with anyone else.”