“Maybe a week ago. Saw Chelsea at the Galleria. She walked up to me and hugged me like we were cool. She was with her son. She’s a single mom and is in marketing for a big corporation. Told me to tell you that she hopes you're good. Bitch, please, like my sister gives a good fuck about you. I told her you and Carter were madly in love and more than good.”
My heart slowed to a thump as I processed that Chelsea was a mother, too. “How old?”
“Young enough not to be Carter’s. Relax. He looks four or five and as cute as a button.”
Relieved, I slid under the comforter, covering my head. “I was about to have a heart attack and straight up die if we had sons the same age.”
“So would Carter if he had a baby with Chelsea. You know he’s all about you and the children.”
“I guess.” I couldn’t help the doubt that crept in. He’d been a better husband the last three weeks, but a part of me wondered for how long.
“Uh...oh...is he tripping because you saw Grey? I saw Grey on the news when he first medaled a few years ago, and he was sexy as fuck, then. I always thought he was a cutie with his light eyes.”
“Carter’s been different for a minute now. He tripped when Grey and I started talking about old times. And yes, Grant, as Tatianna calls him, is so fucking gorgeous. I’d forgotten how mesmerizing his eyes could be. Probably why Elle gets away with murder.”
“The parents can’t raise their voices to her for nothing in the world.” We both chuckled at how my parents had spoiled Elle. “Wait, is Grey’s real name Grant?”
“Dani, seriously, did you think his name was really Grey?”
“I did. It fit him. He’s mixed and walked around with a cloud over his head.”
“Well, the cloud has been replaced by a big ass sun, and he’s getting married,” I glumly said as I rubbed the high thread count sheet. “I know I shouldn’t care. It’s not like I’m single, and he’s wifed up. I have a whole husband and children.”
“But you can’t stop thinking about him,” she said softly.
“I can’t. Honestly, it’s the real reason I don’t want to tell Grey about Elle. Carter worries about losing his daughter. I worry I’ll lose myself in Grey if I have to see him all the time.”
“After everything with Carter, Grey still affects you like that?”
I started rocking. “I can’t explain my heart. Like, I know I don’t want to lose Carter. Just the thought of him with someone else physically hurts. When you mentioned Chelsea and a baby, for a second, my heart stopped ... praying Carter didn’t have a child with her, and that’s his secret. I don't understand why I still want Grey when I love my husband.”
“People love more than one person all the time.”
“I don’t want to. It's how I got into this mess in the first place. I have twins with two different fathers, Danielle, and I hate thinking of him at the oddest times and wanting to call him. To see him again.”
“Shh...Look at it this way. You’re only consumed with Grey because you just saw him. In time, he’ll fade away again.”
I closed my eyes and admitted, “He’s never faded away. I just learned to live without him.”
“If you married Grey, would you think about Carter?”
“I’ve asked myself that a thousand times, and I honestly don’t know. Maybe if I’d married Grey years ago, Carter would only be a passing thought. After eight years, Carter’s a part of me. This life we’ve built, we did together.” Suddenly, my voice cracked, and I fought back the swelling of my eyes. “Think he’s cheating or has cheated on me.”
Silence filled the space between our phones.
I curved into a ball and whispered, “Do you know something?”
“Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know. You got quiet. Maybe you saw something when you visited us for the Fourth. He’d been distant and coming home late. Lipstick on his collar and smelling like a different soap than I'm used to.”
“I don’t know what to say. Guess I'm surprised. I like to think of you and Carter, like Mama and Daddy. Did you ask Carter?”
“He deflects or gets annoyed...Tells me I don’t trust him whenever I ask where he’s been. I’ve never asked him directly.”
She sighed, “Let’s say he is cheating or has. What happens next?
I promptly replied, “Leave his ass.”
