Page 7 of The Devoted Husband

Sade stood. “I, um...I have to go. Sorry about falling on you.”

Atlas chuckled as she scurried away quickly to her car. “It’s cool, Sade. You can fall on me or for me...I’m cool with either one.”

Her feet stopped moving momentarily.

Is he . . . flirting with me?

Looking back, she took in his playful eyes and smile as he winked. Giving him a smile of her own, Sade waved before walking away.

Atlas

The incessant vibrating of Sade’s phone was driving Atlas crazy. Usually, she kept it on Do Not Disturb. Because they were temporarily back in Memphis, Sade wanted to see her family, which was why she said she had her notifications on. That ringing, those text messages, they weren’t from her grandparents.

Who the hell is blowing up her phone?

Atlas put his car in park, releasing a long breath as he gritted his teeth.

“Who keeps texting you?” he asked, calmer than he actually felt.

“Hmm?”

Chuckling, he looked over at Sade as he cut off the car. “I said, who keeps texting you?”

“I-I’m not sure.”

“Then let me see.” As he reached for her phone, which was in the cup holder, Sade did the same.

“Atlas, no—”

“Get the fuck back.” His hand wrapped around her neck, and he pressed her body into the window. Holding her in place, he unlocked her phone. “Why do you make stuff so difficult, Sade?”

“Let me go.” The more she wiggled underneath his grasp, the tighter he pinned her to the window.

“Nah. You must want me to handle you like this because you don’t know how to tell the truth.”

His brows wrinkled, and his heart stopped beating when he saw several text messages from someone named “DoNotAnswer.” Atlas looked over at her, not swayed by the sight of her watery eyes.

“Who is DoNotAnswer? Dante?” When she didn’t respond, Atlas released a low laugh and began to read the messages he’d sent.

DoNotAnswer:Hello, Smiley.

DoNotAnswer:You changed your mind about talking to me?

DoNotAnswer:That’s okay. I’ll still wait for you. I miss you.

DoNotAnswer:Tell me when you’re ready for me to come get you. I’ll always come.

“What does he mean ‘tell him when you’re ready for him to come get you’? You been talking to this man?”

Sade clawed his hand from around her neck. “No. I accidentally sent him some pictures earlier. As you can see, I didn’t text him back.”

“But you sent him pictures of you. Pictures that you took before going to spend time withmyfamily.”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” she muttered, causing Atlas to laugh. The mechanism of laughter usually calmed him down. That day, it wasn’t working.

“How do youaccidentallysend someone pictures of you?”

“I was trying to put them on Facebook, but I was thinking about Dante and...wasn’t paying attention.”

---