He laughed. “You might not believe this, it’s pretty unexpected but—Arthur.”
I stared at him. “Arthur?” I repeated. “His assistant, Arthur?”
Brody nodded. “One and the same.”
I sat back, stunned. “But he’s been his assistant for years and years.”
“Two decades to be precise, and I’d reckon they’ve been together at least that long.”
“So, my mom was the beard?” I asked.
Brody nodded. “As was my mom, I suppose. I don’t know if she ever really knew why she was so lonely in the marriage. Cal and I certainly had no idea.”
“So… your father had a long-term partner, married my mom, and never let her know about his arrangement, and continued to sleep with Arthur the entire time?”
Brody nodded. “So, you see, the prenup is null and void. He broke it first, and your mother deserves every penny of the big fat settlement he’s going to offer her to not go public with all of this.”
I shifted my gaze to the backyard, where bees moved lazily over the swaying stalks of purple. The last of the season. Next season, it would be winter, snowy and cold. When everything went to hibernate, and not even the sun could break through the clouds.
But this time, it looked like I wouldn’t be alone.
Brody took my hand, bringing me back to the present, and all my worries about our relationship and the future burst inside me, an overfilled water balloon, and I was crying.
“What the hell?” Brody murmured and pulled me onto his lap, careful not to touch my foot. “Why are you crying? I’ve been trying to fix everything so you don’t cry.”
“I’m just so… relieved,” I bit out.
“About your mom?” he prodded.
I nodded. “And about… you.”
“Me? What did I do?”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Except for disappearing for days, not telling me what was going on?—”
“I was texting you,” Brody pointed out.
“And it wasn’t enough! I needed you here, I needed your voice, I needed…” I trailed off and used his hand to cup my cheek. “I needed this.”
Brody smiled, a slow grin that lit up his face like a sunrise. “Fuck, you’ve got it bad for me, heathen, haven’t you?”
“Ugh, you’re so full of yourself.”
“And you’re so into it, cheer captain, tell the truth. You’re crazy about me.” He tilted my face back and forced me to look at him. “Absolutely wild.”
I rolled my eyes, wiping away my tears.
He laughed, the bastard, and kissed my ear, then leaned his mouth close and spoke in a low whisper.
“You do know it’ll never hold a candle to how I feel about you, right? There’s no competition between us as to who cares more. I’m the winner. I’ll always be the winner. You can never unseat me. I’m sorry, I know you hate to lose.”
He trailed soft kisses along my jaw, slowly making his way to my mouth.
“Don’t cry, it breaks my fucking heart.”
“Well then, don’t disappear on me. It breaks my fucking heart,” I repeated.
He nodded. “Understood. Now, I’m going to take you upstairs, to our bathroom, and run you a bath with these salts I got in New York. Potassium and magnesium, they’re great for recovery,” he muttered, peppering my face with kisses while he spoke.
