Page 22 of Run Game
I look behind me, waving a dismissive hand. “Yeah, I’m just packing some stuff up,” I say. I absolutely refuse to outright lie to her. I’m terrible at it. She’ll see right through me.
“Packing for what?” she asks. “Are you moving?”
Did I already sayfuck?
“Yeah,” I say with a defeated sigh. “I’m moving.”
And because she just can’t let anything go, she hammers the final nail in my coffin. “Where to?”
Well, there it is. I’m busted. I have no choice but to tell her.
“Actually,” I say, “I’m moving to Boston.” Her expression is stoic for several seconds, so I try again. “Surprise?” It’s a question because she’s honestly freaking me the fuck out with her non-verbal response and frozen face.
Another moment goes by before she covers her mouth and tears fill her eyes. “Please don’t mess with me, Dia. Are you serious?” she whispers.
I nod my head. “Yep. I want to be with you. There’s nothing here for me anymore,” I tell her.
“Oh my God!” she cries. “Blaze, Dia’s moving here!”
“About time!” he says, face filling the screen next to Mads. “When are you coming?”
Cue the nervous laughter.
“Ummm, tomorrow?”
They both stare at me like my hair is on fire for a bit until Mads finally decides it’s time for the ‘rapid fire question’ portion of our evening. “What? Why? How? Where are you going to live? What about the club? How are you getting here?”
Blaze rubs her shoulders soothingly as he laughs. “Relax, Baby Doll.”
They’re so fucking cute. It makes me want to squeal, kick my feet, and puke all at once. I envy the way they’re able to love and support one another so freely. They make it look so easy.
I try to remember everything she asked as I figure out how I’ll continue skirting around the fact that I’m fucking married to Blaze’s best friend and technically, living with him. “I just decided I want to be in Boston where you are. I hate being so far apart. I’m not working at the club anymore and I have enough in my bank account to make the move. Everything is packed, I’ve rented a small truck, and I’m leaving in the morning.”
Please don’t ask where I’m living again.
“Okay, but where are you going to live?” she asks.Shit.“I know you didn’t just decide to move and find a place in the last week.”
“I—” I begin.
“She’ll obviously stay with us,” Blaze states. I freeze, unable to say anything, because I can’t tell them where Iwas actually going. But I don’t want to lie and say I’m staying at a hotel or got an apartment because that’s not the case. I was honestly just hoping Mads would be so excited that she’d skim by that detail until I could figure out a plan. But now Blaze is opening his home to me…a pattern he seems to have fallen into…and I’m afraid I won’t be able to say no.
“Yes!” Mads shouts. “It’s perfect! You can stay here until you find a job and a new place. It’ll be just like it used to be! Gossiping during movies, makeovers, junk food…” Tears fill her eyes, spilling over as she smiles. “I’m so happy.”
I can’t break her heart. Leaving her parents and me behind to move to Boston was so hard on her. In fact, she considered backing out at the last minute, but I promised her we would make it work. Then, she met Blaze and he kept her occupied for a while, but the longer we were apart, the more she voiced her sadness at not being able to see me as often as we used to. And maybe it’ll be good to put some space between Dalton and me so I can get a handle on the things I’m feeling. Technically, his address is on my driver’s license, so as far as the state is concerned, I’m living with him. I’ll just be having sleepovers with my best friend each night. That’s all.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding my head. “Okay.”
FOURTEEN
DALTON
“I don’t knowwhy you’re doing this,” I say to Dia as I lug the last of her moving boxes down the stairs to my storage room. I can’t believe everything she owns fits into three large boxes. And one of them is clothes. She got back this afternoon and broke the news to me that she’s moving out to go stay with Blaze and Mads. I tried arguing, but she seems to be set on this idea.
She reaches the bottom of the staircase and stops, putting her hands on her hips. “What was I supposed to say, Dalton? ‘Oh, I married your best friend in Vegas and I need to live with him or we aren’t allowed to get divorced.’? I can’t do that.”
It pisses me off because, yes, she can. The fact that we’re hiding something so huge from our best friends is taking a toll on me. Yesterday, I almost word-vomited the entire thing when Blaze asked me where I’ve been during our workout session at the Blizzard facility. I could really use the guys’ advice on how I can convince Dia to stay married to me, but that’s kind of hard when I can’t even tell them we’re married in the first place.
I set the box down with a thud before looking over at her. “Are you really that afraid they won’t support your decisions? You’re so worried about Mads trying to get you to give this thing a chance, but what about me? What about what I want? I’m a part of this, too. Don’t I get a fucking say in how our marriage is going to go? I should! At least until you leave me.” The reminder of our inevitable fate hits me like a fucking diesel train. Six weeks was already not enough time for me to spend with Dia. Now I won’t even get to see her every day? Hold her at night? We can’t create the bond we need as a married couple if we’re never together.
