It’s Saturday night, and I’m sitting at Ash’s house, watching TV with him and Jack. Everly and her friend Grace are here too, getting ready to go out for the night.
“Where are you going?” Jack asks them as they start for the front door.
“To a friend’s house,” Everly retorts with all kinds of attitude. “I already told Ty and he’s fine with it.”
Jack grunts.
“Have fun,” Ash calls after them. “Call if you need a ride or whatever.”
“Will do!” Everly waves and heads out. Grace hesitates, then also gives a shy wave.
“Later,” Ash says, smiling a little too hard at Everly’s friend.
When she finally goes out after Everly, Jack elbows him. “Terrible idea.”
“What?” Ash asks, like it isn’t obvious he’s into Grace. He looks to me for backup.
“I agree. Terrible idea.”
“Whatever. She’s cute and hella smart.”
I shake my head. “Still, no.”
He huffs. “We should go out.”
I feel old as fuck. The last thing I want to do right now is go out. I want to go home, but I’ve been avoiding doing just that all day.
I used to love the peace and quiet of my own place, but now it isn’t the same without Jade. Her stuff is everywhere. She’s everywhere. And I’ve started to like it better that way.
“I’m out,” I say.
Ash looks to Jack.
“Fine. I’m in,” he says.
I stand to leave them to it.
“Are you sure?” Ash asks. “Nothing waiting at home for you.”
He is right about that, but I still pass. “Have fun. See you in the morning.”
I walk back to my place, second-guessing my decision a dozen times until I see Jade’s red Volkswagen in the driveway.
My heart rate speeds up and I quicken my steps to get inside. I come up short when I spot her bag inside the front door.
“Jade?” I call, moving toward the kitchen, where the light is on. Her back is to me, and her red hair is pulled up in a ponytail. My heart fucking leaps at the sight of her.
“Hey. When’d you get back?”
She glances over her shoulder at me, then grabs a coffee mug from the cabinet. “A couple of hours ago.”
“Oh, shit, sorry. I was just at Ash’s, getting in a workout. You should have texted.”
“No, it’s fine. I know you’re busy and I am behind on my article.”
“Did you have a good weekend?” I ask, cautiously. She wasn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.
“Yeah. We finished painting and I didn’t want to sleep on the sofa another night.”
It isn’t the enthusiastic, I missed you and couldn’t wait another night to see you, that I was hoping for, but I’m still glad she’s here.
“Where are the other mugs?” she asks.
“Oh, I got new ones while you were gone. Plates, too. Eight new place settings. I had no idea all that shit was supposed to match.”
Jade turns and stares at me. Fuck, she’s gorgeous. She makes my kitchen gorgeous. I take a step toward her, but she crosses her arms over her chest. “You bought new mugs?”
“Yeah. Those others were so old, I can’t even remember where I got them. I think they might have been something my grandma sent me when I got my first apartment.”
“And you just threw them out?”
“Y-yeah,” I answer slowly. “I thought you’d like the new ones. They’re red.”
I feel like an idiot pointing that out when she can clearly see the color.
“Why haven’t you told me about Crissy?”
My mind spins, trying to figure out how we went from mugs to this. “Crissy?”
“Yeah. Your ex-girlfriend. You’ve never once mentioned her.”
“She was never my girlfriend. We hooked up occasionally over the years, but it’s been over for a while now. How did you hear about her?”
“Dakota mentioned her. She thought I knew.”
Jade’s eyes blaze with hurt or maybe anger, but I’m struggling to understand why. I haven’t given Crissy a second thought since the wedding. Then it hits me, and I feel all the mistakes of my past hit me full force. If she knows about Crissy, she knows about the post that got her fired from her internship with the Wildcats.
“I didn’t cheat on her. She posted that picture because she was pissed at me for going out with someone else, but we didn’t have that kind of relationship. We went weeks or months without talking.” I’d never cheat on Jade, or anyone for that matter.
“I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell me about her. When is the last time you were together?”
I’m starting to feel like whatever is bothering her isn’t really about the damn mugs or Crissy, but I’ll tell her whatever she wants to know. Maybe then she’ll really understand that what we have is different than anything else I’ve had before.
“March.”
“And you haven’t talked to her at all since?”
“She texted a couple of times. I told her it was over. She was struggling to accept it.”
“When?”
“The last time I talked to her was the night of your bachelorette party. She was calling and texting. I finally blocked her.”
Her gaze narrows, and she studies me for a long moment. “So you agreed to marry me hoping it would help get her off your back?”
“Of course not. It wasn’t like that. I saw an opportunity to help you, and I took it.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to. We’ve been through this.”
“I know, but why? Why me?”
I’m not sure how to answer that, and I don’t want to bullshit her.
“This was a mistake,” she says.
A cold sensation ripples down my spine. “What was a mistake?”
“Us. Me and you.” She motions between us. “We were stupid to agree to this arrangement and even stupider to get involved while we’re in this temporary marriage.”
“Is this because I got rid of the mugs? I don’t even know why you use them. Yours are much nicer.”
“I use your old mugs because I like them!” She yells as she throws her hands up in the air. Silence falls between us after her outburst, then she whispers, “I’m gonna go.”
Jade takes off out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
“Go where?” I ask, following a few feet behind.
“Back to my mom’s for now, then I’ll find a place. No one is going to check up on us to make sure we’re living together. We have nine more months and then we can go our separate ways and forget all of this. I’m sorry I dragged you into my mess.”
“Wait a second.” I jog ahead of her. “You didn’t drag me into anything. I was a very willing participant in all of it.”
“You’re a good guy, Declan,” she says like that’s the problem, then pushes past me.
I stand dumbfounded for a few seconds. What the hell is happening?
