“I don’t know. Just check for me.”
I hear a series of mouse clicks through the phone. “Her name’s not listed in her high school’s graduation program. No pay stubs after March of that year. That must be when she dropped out. She was probably rotting in bed, as they say.”
“You don’t think it’s strange that she just disappeared for six months?”
“Do you?”
I let out a long exhale. What am I doing here? Looking for an answer in her past as to why she’s pissed that she caught another woman riding my cock? It’s not a mystery. We all have our pride.
“Cora walked in on me the other day. I had, uh—Delaney and I were fucking.”
Logan whistles. “Your CFO? The redhead?”
“My director of finance.”
He whistles again. “I didn’t know things were so bad at home.”
“They’re not.”
“They aren’t?”
“Well, they are now, but Cora and I were fine.”
“So you were fucking Delaney for what? Variety? I thought you wanted the wife and kids.”
“I do.”
“Funny way to show it.”
“I don’t need you busting my balls.”
“No, you need me to what—get some kind of leverage over your wife so she doesn’t leave your ass? What are we doing here?”
I blow out another breath. “I don’t know. She’s angry. Not like Mom. She’s angry and quiet.”
“That’s what I don’t get. You saw what Dad’s cheating did to Mom. It drove her crazy. What are you doing? If you want to fuck around, you’re smart enough not to get caught.”
He has a point. It was such a strange night. I didn’t set out to get laid. It just happened.
No, that’s not quite right. It was like I was watching it happen. Like I was rubbernecking my own life. I could’ve stopped at any point. Said no to the nightcap. Told Delaney to put her clothes back on when she let her dress fall to the floor.
But I didn’t.
“I don’t know,” I confess. It was a bad move.
“Are you that hot for Delaney? I got to tell you, man, it wouldn’t be an upgrade in my opinion. I don’t think she’s stepmother material.”
“I was just busting a nut. I have no interest in splitting up with Cora.”
“Again, funny way to show it.”
“You do know that you’re not helpful in the least.”
Logan snorts and then gentles his tone. “Adrian, man, I don’t know how to tell you this, but from my point of view, it really looks like you’re trying to blow up your life. You wanted the sweet little wife and the two point five kids, and you got it. I’m no shrink, but this is obvious self-sabotage.”
“Yeah, I got it all right. I got what I paid for.” There’s a bitterness in my voice that I don’t recognize. I pour myself another shot and down it, savoring the burn.
“What does that mean?”
