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“Yep.”
“Does he know that?”
“I think I made myself pretty clear. Particularly with the don’t call me, and don’t come around, which he’s obviously ignored.”
Another long pause. “I’m going to go and get rid of him. Then I’ll call you back. Don’t worry, I won’t tell him where you are.”
“You don’t know where I am.”
“Oh, come on, Dean. If you’re not here, and you’re not with Justin, then you’re at your brother’s. Where else would you go?”
“I could be staying at a hotel.”
She gave an unladylike snort. “Come in to some sort of money, have you? Enough to be able to afford paying for a bed, when you’ve got a perfectly good one here.”
She had a point. “Okay, fine. I’m at Andy’s. But, please…Georgia. Don’t tell Justin that. I’m begging you.”
“Sweetheart…I already told you, I wouldn’t. Listen, I’m gonna go. I’ll ring you back in five. Don’t go falling asleep. I want to know what’s going on.”
Before I could either argue, or agree, the phone went dead, and I was left contemplating Justin’s presence at my house. Hadn’t I known though, that he would go there? Wasn’t that my whole reason for dumping myself unannounced on my brother and his wife. The minutes ticked by while I waited for Georgia to call back. Finally, the phone rang again. I answered it on the first ring. “Did he go?”
“Eventually. I had to let him come in though. To prove you really weren’t here.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. At one point. I thought he was going to check you weren’t hiding in the cupboard under the sink. He said to tell you to call him. Said he just needed a chance to explain.” Georgia’s voice softened. “What did he do, Dean? Did he cheat on you?”
I sat up, rubbing my neck wearily. “It’s complicated.”
“So, he did cheat?”
“No.”
“Then”—she sighed loudly when I didn’t immediately supply the missing information— “did he—”
“Did he what?”
“Did he find out about Tuesday nights?”
I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. I could sense Georgia’s confusion even though she was at the other end of a phone line. Once I started laughing, I couldn’t stop. I laughed until tears started rolling down my cheeks.
“Dean, what’s so funny? You’re scaring me now.”
I breathed deeply, getting myself back under control, before responding. “He always knew about it.”
“What? How could he?”
“I should probably tell you something before I answer that.”
“Go on.”
I squeezed my eyes shut before I confessed, anticipating what Georgia’s reaction would be and knowing I fully deserved it. “I never brought an end to it. The Tuesday thing…that is. I kept going. I know, I lied to you…and I’m really, really sorry.”
“I know.”
My eyes flew open. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because…” She paused. I was gripping the phone so hard my fingers were starting to hurt. “We would have had a big argument. Then you would have kept going anyway. It didn’t seem to serve any purpose. I knew you’d tell me eventually…and you just have, so—”
