Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“How long what?”
“How long, Dennis? How long have you been cheating on me? How long have you been pushing me away when I try anything intimate with you, while you’ve clearly been welcoming whoever the hell that was into your arms without a second thought?”
He had the audacity to look annoyed.
Wow.
Had he always been this heartless? This cold—
“You have no idea what it’s like being a man,” he said. “None.”
Anger licked up my spine. “Enlighten me.”
“We have needs that can’t be satisfied by one woman,” he said, reaching for me. “You know how I feel about you, Luna. You’re great. There are just things I can do with her that I can’t do with you.”
I jerked away from his touch, revulsion rippling through me. Tears gathered in the back of my eyes. “I’ve been asking for more…” I shook my head. It didn’t matter. He clearly didn’t see or want me in that way. “Five years. You told me you loved me—”
“I do love you,” he cut me off, reaching for me again. I backed up, and he raised his hands like he was trying to calm a wild animal. “I do. Maybe it’s a good thing this happened.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I don’t want to hide from you anymore. If you can accept that I need multiple—”
“No,” I cut him off. “You can stop right there. You barely entertained my ideas when it came to sex, so no, I won’t be understanding your need to find pleasure in other partners. We never agreed to anything like that. God, you always lose your shit when I have lunch with Brad and he’s my best friend—”
“He’s an asshole,” Dennis said.
“That’s rich, coming from you.” I tried to move past him, but he blocked my way.
“Don’t be like this, Luna,” he said. “Tons of people have open relationships—”
“Yeah,” I said. “And the thing about those relationships? They set up those rules and boundaries beforehand. They don’t lie and cheat and hurt each other.”
“It’s cute that you think you know a thing about it,” he said, and I cringed at the level of arrogance in his tone. “Luna, you’ve depended on your trust fund your entire life. You have no idea what the real world is like.”
I gaped at him. I built my boutique from the ground up, using money I’d earned by selling custom pieces…actually, fuck this. “Get out of my way.”
“No,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “Not until you calm down. You’re being irrational.”
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. At least I didn’t have the urge to cry anymore. Now all I wanted to do was punch him in the throat.
“Move out of my way. Now.”
“Or what?”
Unease shot through me. I’d never been afraid of him before, but he was trapping me here. Adrenaline replaced every other emotion, and I quickly shoved past him, racing into the living room where I left my phone.
He raced behind me, stopping in front of the door. “You’re not leaving until you talk this out with me.”
“There is nothing to talk out!” I snapped, finally getting my phone. “We’re done. You cheated on me. You betrayed me. You…you’re a liar. And I’m done.”
“Luna,” he said, drawing out my name like he was talking to a child. “Nothing has to change between us—”
“Everything has changed!” God, he was making me feel like I was the one losing my mind. “We’re done. It’s over. Let me leave.”
He remained standing in front of the door, and every instinct in my body flared with warning.
I pulled up 9-1-1 on my phone, my thumb hovering over the call button.
“The cops?” he asked, glaring at me. “You’re seriously going to go there? Don’t you think you’re overreacting—”
“Move or I call them.”
He rolled his eyes, but stepped out of the way.
Relief spiraled down my spine and I sprinted out of the door, racing down the steps until I reached the parking lot and my car.
He called after me, but I ignored him, driving away as quickly as possible.
It wasn’t until I stepped inside my house that the adrenaline faded and the tears hit me.
I dropped my bag and slid to the floor, leaning against my closed front door, not having the energy to take two more steps inside. Tears streamed down my cheeks, hurt, angry tears as memories and emotions whirled inside me. Every time he’d told me he wasn’t in the mood, every time he’d told me he was too tired to go out, every time he’d ignored one of my polite requests for something different.
He didn’t care about me or my feelings, my needs.
He never loved me.
How could he? Or was I really that old-fashioned to value monogamy in a relationship? I didn’t fault anyone who wanted an open relationship, but that just wasn’t me. He knew that, and what he’d done wasn’t open. It was a lie.