Page 15 of Push

He can’t keep covering for Toby.

It was true. It wasalltrue. I hadn’t been crazy.

Ian’s hand reached for mine, almost like he wanted to weave our fingers together. The action seemed to surprise him as much as me. He snatched his hand back with a guilty look.

“I’ve fought myself over whether to tell you,” he said. “It’s been eating me alive for weeks. I wanted to tell you so many times what was going on.”

Ice ran through my veins. There was no risk of my falling apart. “And what’s going on?”

“Toby…and…Kayleigh.” His throat bobbed. “They’re…” He dropped his gaze back to his shoes, his shoulder lifting to fill in the blank.

Not that he needed to finish what he was going to say. I knew. I’d seen the photo of the party, hadn’t I? The sight of Kayleigh’s lips on my husband’s cheek was only one piece of the puzzle, but it didn’t take many more to create the full picture. Toby had been acting weird about Kayleigh for weeks. Her stupid comment about falling for a married man and the photo she’d posted, oversharing about his enthusiasm between her legs, filled in enough of the gaps.

Marnie cleared her throat behind me, but her voice was scratchy when she asked Ian, “You told Toby about the accident, right?”

“The second you called,” he said. “I kept telling him it was time to leave, but he brushed me off and told me he’s tired of being ignored.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper. “He…he said…it’s been…a whilefor you guys.” Uncomfortable parting with that detail, he winced.

I stood taller and lifted my chin, too proud to show any weakness, even though my world was crumbling beneath my feet. Bedroom talk was private.Sacred. I’d never even talked to Marnie about the problems in my sex life, and I shared almost everything with her—including a conversation about the horrorsof postpartum poops. You don’t get much more awkward than that.

“I told Toby none of that mattered,” Ian said, “and he told me to mind my own beeswax.” He sighed. “He’s been saying that a lot lately.”

“And where is he now?”

“He’s there. At Kayleigh’s. He asked me to cover for him. I should’ve said no… I know that… Jesus, Gwen, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you.”

I stood still. My body was numb, but I wasn’t choked in a fog of doubt and worry anymore. I understood what was going on. I hadn’t been crazy. I’d been right all along.

Tentative fingers touched the dip in my spine. “Are you angry at me?” Ian asked softly.

“No, of course not. I don’t believe in shooting the messenger…”My husband, however… “You did the right thing telling me the truth.” His body stiffened until I bumped my shoulder against his and offered him a weak smile. “Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.”

“What do we do now?”

Great question.

My betrayal had been splashed online for the world to see. Screw saying nothing and walking away with my head held high. My revenge needed to be just as devastating. I wanted something public. Somethingfinal. An eye for an eye—my brother’s motto.

Not a single trace of my husband could remain.

6

He Heard the Voicemails

Toby

Groaning, I rolled over…andtumbled headfirst onto the carpet with a thud.

I cracked one eye open. Sun splintered through the gap, and pain tore through my skull. Screwing my eyes shut, I pushed myself up, only to smack my head on something hard.

“Jesus fu—” I bit back the rest of the words, a breath hissing through my teeth. I slumped onto the carpet and stared at the ceiling.

Where the hell am I?

Not the bedroom, and I’d spent enough nights banished to the couch to know this wasn’t my living room, either. My tired eyes wandered over white walls, white tiles, white everything.

Ian’s place.

I scooted out of the coffee table’s punching range and forced myself upright.

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