“Was.”
“What?”
“You said ‘This is my partner.’ She was your partner, Deuce.”
“Whatever. You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, but sometimes, I wonder if you’ve accepted her death.”
“You mean the way that you’ve accepted Ethan’s?”
“That’s different. Just because I am able to accept what is doesn’t mean that I don’t grieve him. I do, but I also know that we weren’t in a good place in our marriage. We were constantly arguing and unsure if we would make it. Not to mention he cheated on me multiple times.”
“And you took him back.”
“I did, and that was my decision. We’re not talking about someone I was in love with and couldn’t live without. We weren’t in a good place.”
“You can’t compare the two. You’re talking about a marriage versus a working relationship.”
“Are we?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow again.
“Since we’re going there, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about anyway.”
Sevyn held her hand up and shook her head. “Not tonight. This arguing we’re doing is not us. I have a feeling that whatever you have to say will only make it worse. We need to breathe.”
“But it needs to be said,” I argued.
“Not tonight, it doesn’t,” she countered, walking away from me.
“Sevyn,” I called out and grabbed her arm.
“I said not tonight, Deuce. Nothing heavy tonight. I had a hard day in physical therapy and mental health therapy. I’m not about to do this with you right now.” Her voice was stern and steady, and the glacial look in her eyes froze me in place.
My jaw clenched, I dropped my hand from her arm, and I turned away for a minute to calm down. The last thing that I wanted was to take things out on Sevyn. When I turned back again, she was watching me closely with narrowed eyes.
“What?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“I said light and easy tonight. That’s all I have the bandwidth to handle, Deuce.”
“Come help me set up the fort.”
“What?”
“Grab the glasses, plates, and napkins. Meet me in the living room,” I commanded. I needed to change the subject quickly because I could see that we were going down a road that we didn’t need to travel. The last thing that I wanted was to have an argument with Sevyn. We had disagreed about things before, but those disagreements weren’t anything that ever got out of hand. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I wouldn’t force it on her, especially not while we were arguing.
I headed into the spare bedroom and grabbed blankets, pillows, a box that held fairy lights, and some candles before I returned to the living room. I set those items down and grabbed my iPad. Sevyn helped me build a fort, and by the time we finished, the pizza was ready.
I fixed our plates. We settled in the fort for a movie marathon and a cozy night inside. While we ate, I thought about everything she said.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked after we finished eating.
I wiped my hands and mouth with the napkins and pulled her onto my lap.
“I’m sorry, baby. I don’t like arguing with you, and being disrespectful and rude to you ain’t what I’m trying to do. You’re my love, and I don’t want to make you unhappy.”
