Page 50 of The Arrangement
“I found out like a second before I got home, and I have no idea what happened. I got off the phone to answer your call, but I told her I’d be over as soon as I could. She’s in a rough place. I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Probably late.” She was making her way back toward the door. We had a week. She promised me a week. “Are you okay with the kids for the evening?”
“Wait, Ainsley. Wait.” I reached for her arm, grabbing it harder than I’d meant to. She spun around, glaring at me.
“What? I need to go. She’s waiting.” She jerked her arm out of my grip.
“There’s something we need to talk about. S-something I need to tell you.”
“Okay,” she said, cocking her hip to the side as she waited.
“It’s—can you sit down?”
“You’re scaring me…” She eased herself toward the couch and sank down. “What is it?”
“I…” I sat down next to her, putting my head in my hands. “Fuck.” It hurt to even let myself think the words, let alone say them aloud. “I’m an idiot. I’m a fucking idiot.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, and I felt her hand graze my shoulder. I shoved it off, shaking my head as hot tears filled my eyes. I didn’t deserve her comfort.
“You’re going to hate me.”
“I could never hate you…” she whispered. “I love you, Peter. Nothing you could ever say would change that.”
“I hope you mean that, but I don’t think you do.”
“Spit it ou—”
“I’ve been cheating on you,” I said, a grimace on my face as I lifted my head from my hands. “With Seth.”
Chapter Thirty-One
AINSLEY
I stared at my husband as he said the seven words I’d never, not in a million years, expected him to say. The words washed over me, coursing in and out of my ear like a heartbeat. I heard them over and over.
I’ve been cheating on you.
With Seth.
I’ve been cheating on you.
With Seth.
I’ve been cheating on you.
With Seth.
I couldn’t speak. I stood up, walking away from him with one hand on my stomach, the other on my chest. I felt as though I’d been kicked square in my core.
“Ainsley, I—”
I whipped around to stare at him, cutting his sentence short. “Seth Seth? Glennon’s husband? My best friend’s husband? Are you serious? You can’t be serious… Is this a joke?”
He winced as I doled out the questions, hanging his head. “I’m so sorry.”
“Does Glennon know?”
“She just found out.”
“So that’s why…” I trailed off, looking around the room. It was as if the world I’d woken up in no longer existed. As if I’d been picked up and dropped into a new world where nothing I thought I knew was true. “How could you do this to me? I mean, are you like… Are you coming out to me right now? What is this, Peter? How could I not know you are gay? Are you gay?” Nothing made sense. “Seth?” I couldn’t catch my breath.