“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” I manage, eyeing her hesitantly as she drains the entire glass, her eyes glassed over.
She shakes her head. “Are you staying then?”
“I said as long as you want me to.” There’s a chair stacked in the corner. I grab a leg and turn it right side up and set it next to her.
She swallows hard. “No matter what I say? You’ll stay?”
My stomach churns even as I nod. “Magnolia. You can’t scare me.” I hold up a hand. “Maybe you could if you were sloppy drunk, fucking me while holding a weapon. I’d be a little uncomfortable then. I can’t be sure, though, because thinking about it is getting me a little excited.” I shrug.
She slides me a half smirk. “You won’t even be able to give me advice because you’re just a…whore,” she says. “I don’t mean that in an offensive way, but in a factual way, you know?”
“Ouch,” I reply. “Bitter about a man, then?”
“It’s not you. It’s men in general. And their whore women who ruin lives.”
I swallow hard. Uncharted territory means I have no idea what the fuck to say, and she’s right. I won’t have advice. This is shit I don’t have to deal with when my only companions have been twenty-something one-night stands, though I do have enough shitty life experience to keep conversation broad. “Your ex?”
“He’s marrying Pamela. The woman he cheated on me with. The woman Kendall saw him physically fucking onmydining room table. Marrying her. Giving hermyvows.” She takes the bottle from the desk and fills her glass and then mine. Shaking her head, she closes her eyes. “I didn’t think it would bother me this much. It was a possibility, of course, but I thought she was just his first stop on the adultery train.”
“Vows don’t mean anything, Magnolia. Not from a man who breaks promises. I’m sorry you’re hurting, but you should know that the vows he will give Pamela are just as weak as the ones he gave you. That’s not anything special. It’s lies disguised as vows.”I sip my wine, looking anywhere except her eyes. They’re boring into me, trying to eat my soul. “If it makes you feel better, you should know she’s just a stop on the adultery train. There will be other women—a second, a third, and probably a fourth and a fifth. Consider yourself lucky you’re out now and don’t have to wonder. Poor Pamela will do nothing but wonder if he’s lying. A relationship built on a lie that consuming isn’t worth a grain of salt.”
I make the mistake of catching sight of her face.
“But you’re lying to everyone. Wanting them to think I’m your girlfriend when I’m just an accessory to remedy your own adultery train.”
“Touché.” Twirling the wineglass gives me something to do with my hand. “I never fuck with married women, Magnolia. You should know that.”
“How do you know? Everyone lies these days. That’s the root of all of this. Goddamn lies.” Her chest is rising and falling as her anger takes control of her body. I can’t say I blame her. I can’t imagine the predicament she’s been in. To have her daughter uncover the affair makes it even worse.
I palm my chest. “I don’t know. You’re right.”
“That’s all you have to say?” she says, hurt filling her eyes.
The time for running from this fucking mess has passed. I’m invested. My friends call it the hero complex. We make jokes about it. That motherfucking shit is true. I can’t turn away from a problem that needs to be solved. I cannot let a beautiful woman like Magnolia flounder like this. It would be criminal if she never pulled herself from this suckfest. Plus, I can confidently say I enjoy talking to her more than I like talking to anyone else.
I scoot my chair back, away from her, giving a polite, neutral distance between our bodies. I nod once. “Tell me everything you’re mad about. Let it all out. Everything,” I say. She tilts herhead, trying to get a read on me and my motives. “Tell me where it hurts. Tell me where the death blow is.”
Clasping my hands between my spread knees, I wait.
Her eyes widen and her mouth pops open. She closes it again.
I go on. “When it’s all out and there’s nothing left to say, it doesn’t belong to you anymore. It belongs to me. That’s the deal. I’m stealing it.”
Magnolia narrows her eyes. “But it won’t. It can’t. I’ve lived it. It will always be mine.”
I shake my head. “That’s the deal. Once you’ve spoken it, I’ve taken it from you.”
“How much are you paying for my dumpster fire?” She smiles, assuming I’m joking. I look around, wondering how much she leases Magnolia’s Steals for. She interrupts my thoughts. “Why in the world would you do anything for me? You barely know me,” she says, shakily setting her wineglass down on the desk. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense. I can handle your dumpster fire times a thousand. Give it to me.”
She leans forward without realizing she has. Keeping my distance is difficult, the need to comfort her warring with common sense. If I hug her, I’ll kiss her, then I’ll fuck her on this desk, and she’ll still be upset when I leave. If she talks to me about this, there’s a chance of her truly getting over the fuckwad, or at least moving on. “Consider it part of the relationship training,” I offer, opening my hands and clasping them again. “I’m teaching you how to have a relationship in this century, right?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not that out of touch.”
“Tell me,” I say.
“Where does it hurt?” she asks, wincing. “Everywhere.” Magnolia folds her arms around her stomach. “How will I ever trust a man again? How will Kendall move on? A father issupposed to be a role model for their daughter. The type of man they grow up and seek out as a partner.” She lays a hand on her forehead. “If he ruined her, I’ll kill him. You’ll have to do it for me. You protect your kids at all costs, and I couldn’t protect her from this.”
