Page 70 of Choosing a Forever
“I can’t tell you why, so stop asking.”
Enoch frowns. “Not that I’m trying to be crass about your wife, but how have you kept your hands off of her? I would have torn her dress off as soon as we got home if I were you.”
A sound close to a growl—something I didn’t know I was capable of—rips out of my throat. I don’t want to imagine anyone butmedoing anything with my wife.
“Don’t you fucking dare say anything like that about my wife again.”
Enoch’s eyes go wide, and he holds up his hands. “S-sorry, man. Didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
Nathan’s eyes narrow at me. “Did you just say ‘fuck?’”
“Yes. I did.”
“But you don’t swear.”
“I do now.”
“Since when?”
“Since I left the church,” I blurt out, and both of them gasp.
Nathan grins. “Congratulations, bro. That’s a huge step. How has it been?”
This is a safer conversation. One I’m happy to have with them. “It’s been really good. Freeing. I mean, it’s new, but I can’t complain. Instead of dreading Sundays, I look forward to them, and not having to follow the arbitrary rules has been nice.”
“Wait, wait, wait. So you’re saying you’re married, left the church, and you’restillnot having sex?” Enoch’s voice drips with disbelief.
“Oh, for the love of—life isn’t all about sex!” I nearly shout at him.
“I’m just saying when I left, sex was—”
“Wait, what do you mean? You left the church?”
Enoch shrugs. “Yeah. About a year ago. I’m not open about it, but I’m not really hiding it either.”
How did I not know my best friend left the church? What signs did I miss? Now that I think about it, I haven’t noticed his garments peeking out of the collar of his T-shirts anymore.
“And you’re not a virgin?” Nathan gasps dramatically.
Enoch grins. “Nope. As soon as I submitted my request for my records to be removed, I lost my virginity. Best two minutes of my life. Don’t worry, I last longer now.”
“I wasn’t worried, but thanks for the information. Good for you for leaving, man. But why didn’t you say anything?” I ask.
“Probably for the same reason you didn’t. I didn’t want the judgment or to risk losing our friendship.”
“Well, now I feel like we should celebrate!”
“Hell yeah! Maybe if I get some alcohol in you, you’ll tell me why you haven’t fucked your wife.”
I sigh. “Can you please drop it? It’s not—we’re not… It’s complicated.”
“Fine. I’ll drop it. But just know, if you need some advice, you can ask me.”
I will not be asking him for advice on this particular subject. It would mean I’d have to explain the whole fake marriage thing, and it would open up a can of worms for even more questions.
“Thanks, but I—”
The alarm in the station blares at level three, and we jump into action.
