Page 23 of Push

I needed to fix what I’d done before it was too late. I was good at fixing things. That’s why I’d worked so hard to become a dentist. Find the problem. Fill it up. Cover it up. A little hole could be patched up as good as new.

“Gwen… I’m so sorry.”

She refused to look at me. Her chin lifted higher.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you and Noah.” Still no reaction. “I should’ve been here last night.”

The silence stretched between us like a broken rubber band, ready to snap at any second.

“That’s it?” Gwen spat out the words. “That’swhat you’re sorry for?”

I swallowed. “I’m sorry for…”Touching someone else. Kissing her. Destroying the trust between us.The words screamed in my mind, but my mouth was bone dry. Gwen would hate me.Hateme. “The photo…”

“I see. So, you’re sorry you got caught and not because you slept with her?”

“Ineverslept with Kay.”

“Lipstick was all over your neck. Would I have found it on your dick, too?”

“No! Of course not!” This was a mess. I was screwing everything up. “I’ve never had sex with Kay.Never. I’m not one of the perps you used to cross-examine as a prosecutor. I’m not spinning a story. There was no sex. None. Of any kind. Ever. If she said so in one of the posts you’ve found, it’s a complete lie.”

“You…never?” The sharp edge of Gwen’s eyes softened. “The photo… That was it? Other than that…” She fidgeted with the loops on her jeans. “You’ve never touched Kayleigh?”

The look she fixed on me was so painfully hopeful. She wanted me to make all our problems disappear with one swift denial, but I couldn’t lie to her.

“Gwen, I—”

I clamped my mouth shut. I wanted to tell her again that nothing had happened. It was just a kiss, right? Not that bad. But the memories of my palm on Kayleigh’s hip, my lips on hers, and my tongue in her mouth flashed like a horror show before my eyes. I’d deluded myself. Gwen wouldn’t think that was nothing.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

She saw right through me. Her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

The guilt washed over me in a wave of nausea, and I dropped my gaze to the floor. I didn’t want to say the words out loud. The truth would tear her apart.

“Toby, I trusted you. The world outside this bedroom is laughing at me. Theleastyou owe me is an explanation.”

I owed her so much more than that. Shame forced my gaze to stay on my hands. “I…kissed…her.”

“Youkissedher?”

I flinched as Gwen hurled the accusation at me, but slowly, I forced myself to nod. “I kissed her.”

“Get the hell out of my house.”

9

She Asked for Space

Gwen

“No! Gwen!” Toby shotoff the bed, his face whiter than the towel wrapped around his waist. “I’m not leaving! We need to talk about this! We can work this out!” The words spewed out of him in a desperate rush.

“Get dressed and get the hell out!” I marched into the wardrobe and yanked open a drawer. Any drawer. Footsteps bounded after me. “Get out!” A handful of underwear was easy enough to grab. Mine, his, it didn’t matter.

“No! Christ—” He dodged the pile of fabric hurtling at his face. “Will you calm down?”

I scrunched another pile in my fist. “Calm down?” My head turned slowly, and I pinned him with a glare so cold he wobbled back a step. “When should I act calm, Toby? Tell me. Was it when that idiot slammed into my car with our son strapped in the back? Or was it when I was on the side of the road with no idea what to do and with no one there to help me?”

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