Page 92 of Burn Bag

“That’s not what I’m fucking talking about,” I snapped. “I was standing there, staring at this woman who has somehow ended up married to me, and she’s fucking insane. My house is filled with cats! Fox wants to create an army!”

“That sounds like him.”

“And I shouldn’t be fucking jealous. I’m not that guy.”

“You are exactly that guy,” he pointed out. “I believe that was one of your biggest issues with Isla.”

I glared at him for effect, but he was right. I had been a jealous ass.

“I like her,” I admitted. “I don’t know why or how?—”

“Aside from the fact that she’s insanely hot and a little crazy.”

“And then she started listing off your traits like it was a fucking bachelor auction, and I lost it.”

“As you should.”

“But then…” I sighed, closing my eyes as my head dropped back. “I fucking like her, man. I really like her.”

“You said that. Which is good because she’s your wife.”

“You don’t get it. I actually fucking like her.”

“Again, I’m not seeing the issue.”

I gritted my teeth, pissed that I let this happen. “I wasn’t expecting it. I mean, I wanted a wife. I wanted the happy family and all that shit, but it was supposed to be with Emily.”

“Uh-huh.”

“She fit the profile. She ticked all the boxes!”

“And Daphne is a chaotic mess.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t even know anything about her.”

“You know, that could be because most people date the woman they’re going to marry.”

His sarcasm was not welcome, but he was right. “I don’t want to fuck this up, Red,” I admitted. “I screwed everything up with Isla by moving too fast. I was a jealous fucking idiot, and when I had Daphne on the counter…all I could think about was possessing her.”

“Again, that’s not a bad thing. And you can’t really screw it up since you’re already married to her.”

I glared at him, wishing he would just get it. “I did it all wrong, and now…she’s mine, but I could screw it up just like I do everything else. And then she’ll leave. I just can’t?—”

I couldn’t lose another fucking person. This whole marriage thing was supposed to make things simple, and instead, I found myself wanting to know more about my wife, find out what made her tick, and why she was so damn…quirky. That wasn’t supposed to be the way this happened, and yet…it was.

“Things could be worse,” he said, clapping me on the shoulder. “You could hate her.”

I huffed out a laugh. “That wouldn’t make things worse. I think Daphne could be absolutely hideous and I’d still want her.”

“Really?” he frowned.

“Well, maybe not, but either way—” I shoved my hand through my hair and sighed. “What the fuck do I do?”

“Well, you could start by finding out more about your wife. And then you could actually do something insane like date her. And if you’re really serious about this whole marriage thing, you could take it one step further and actually sleep with her.”

Fuck, I really wanted that. “You make it sound so simple.”

“Well, it really is. You like her. So, do what you should have done from the start and date the woman.”

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