Page 91 of Serenity
“I had no idea you were her ‘wellness coach.’ When I approached you that night at Sin, I had no idea of your affiliation with my ex-wife.”
“What did you do?”
“What do you mean, babe?”
“Why did she say that you humiliated her with innocent women? You gave me half the story. Tell it all.”
“Baby,” through shuttered eyes, I sighed. The filth of my past was rearing its dirty head, attempting to sabotage all I held dear. The shower wasn’t helping me come clean.
Hooking my fingers in the waistband of her yoga pants, I dragged the elastic fabric over her ass.
“Duke, stop. Get your hands off my body and tell me what you did.”
Straightening my spine and removing my hands from her limbs, I sighed. “I’m ashamed to say it out loud.”
“Tell me, or I’m leaving.”
“I slept with them, and then I told her about it.”
“That’s it?” Her features corrugated into a sheepish scowl.
The heat and steam of the shower were causing blisters of sweat to form on both of our faces. Behind me, the three showerheads pounded relentlessly against my naked skin.
“That’s it. I wanted her to feel a semblance of the pain she caused me. I wanted her to feel lower than dirt. I wanted her to feel less of a person, scum of the earth, because that’s exactly how I see her.”
“So, do you still have feelings for her?”
“Bee—”
“—Is that why both of you live here?”
Raised above a few octaves, her voice quaked. “Why didn’t you tell me she lives here? Have you been fucking her?”
“Serenity!”
She was taking the shit too far.
She scoffed. Shook her head. Bit her lip.
“I love you. I’d never intentionally hurt you, but I can see how this might be stinging somewhere in that vast and beautiful fucking heart of yours. I’m sorry.
“The shit I did to Mya was childish and shameful. It should have never happened, which is why I don’t care to discuss it. I know you need to understand, so I’m trying to explain it as much as I’ve come to understand it so that you and I are on the same page.”
She turned her head to stare at an inanimate piece of granite coating the shower walls.
“Look at me, Bee.”
Stubbornly, she refused the request, forcing me to hook a hand around her chin and tilt her head in my direction. The somber undercurrent of disappointment was heavy in the walk-in shower. Anything I could do to eradicate that uncomfortable energy, I would.
“And to answer your question, no, I haven’t been fucking her. I wouldn’t slide in that pussy again if it were the last one on earth. I didn’t tell you she lived here because I had no idea. I ran into her one time, and our encounter was far from pleasant. We don’t do pleasantries. I didn’t ask her why she was here. It’s a hotel. She could have been here for a number of reasons. She’s fucking my ex-best friend, who’s also married.”
Fixated on the granite again, her eyes failed to connect. Seconds passed. Minutes. The fucking shower I needed to rinse me clean had now become a nuisance.
“Baby, do you believe me?”
She shrugged.
“What is it you doubt about the things I’ve told you?”