Page 109 of Fault Lines
I hadn’t even decided where I was going.
“I’m not. I’m going to Rachel’s. At least for tonight.”
He closed his eyes, jaw clamped tight. “Arrangements are off, Livi. No more other people. Not for me, not for you.”
I thumbed a message to Rachel, asking for a ride. “You’re hardly in a position to give ultimatums, Cam. You’re the one who broke our marriage, not me.”
“We can’t fix things if you’re with another man.”
“You didn’t care about that when you asked for this,” I spat. “Look, I’m not saying I’ll keep seeing Nate, but I’m not going to stop talking to him either. He’s my friend, and I need that. I’m not sure what the future looks like, but I need to figure it out for myself. And you need to do the same. Your life is about to change more than mine.”
We stared at each other, two ruined people in the hallway, neither able to find a way forward.
I couldn’t bear to look at him anymore. I turned, suitcase in hand, and walked out, step by stubborn step, until the door shut softly behind me.
∞∞∞
“That low down, rotten pig!” Rachel’s voice rang out in the living room as she slammed her mug onto the coffee table with a force that made me flinch. I half-expected it to shatter across the tabletop, but it held. I tried to burrow deeper into the corner of her couch, wishing I could disappear into the folds of the worn throw blanket. I’d just finished telling her everything Cam hadconfessed, practically pleading with her to let me stay here until I could figure out my next steps.
“Who’s a rotten pig?” Jackson’s voice floated in from the door as he locked it behind him and slung his backpack onto the hook by the entrance.
Rachel twisted around in the armchair, her smile stretched thin. “Hey, honey! We were just talking about Livi’s cheating pissant of a husband.”
Jackson let his head tilt, studying us, and then crossed to the other end of the couch. “I thought you’d forgiven him for that already. Since you stayed. Did he go and do it again?”
The air felt brittle while Rachel opened and closed her mouth, glancing at me before blurting, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to spill if you wanted it to be between us.”
I shook my head, staring at the pattern on the rug. “It’s fine. I guess everyone’ll know if we split, anyway. And it’s looking like that’s the direction things are headed right now.”
Jackson leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Do you really think you’ll leave him?” His eyes flicked to Rachel, then back to me. “I know Nate would love a chance. He talks about you all the time.”
I let my shoulders rise and fall. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. My head’s just… full of everything. This isn’t even about Vegas anymore. Well, kind of. I didn’t even tell him I knew until yesterday. But now it’s all just blown up.”
Rachel cut in, eyes flashing. “She’s pregnant. The woman from the hotel. The one he stayed with.”
Jackson’s eyes went wide. I wondered if Rachel had already told him about my infertility stuff. I didn’t really mind; Rachel didn’t open up to anyone besides me, so if Jackson was her person now, I was fine with that.
“I told him everything,” Rachel said, voice softer. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Yeah,” I answered, then turned so Jackson could see I meant it. “We did have an open marriage, technically. But Cam staying over with her—and getting her pregnant—that wasn’t supposed to be part of it.”
Jackson gave an awkward little snort. “Nate said he was an asshole, but I figured he was just jealous. He wants you for himself.”
I shook my head, more out of habit than anything. “He’s not terrible. Not really.”
Rachel’s voice jumped, sharp as broken glass. “Girl! Don’t tell me you’re still defending him after all this.”
“What he did? It’s awful, yeah. But I genuinely don’t think he got her pregnant on purpose.”
“Doesn’t he know how to wrap it up?” Rachel asked, exasperated.
“He said it broke.” I stared at my hands. “I believe him. But now there’s this mess. I don’t know how I’m supposed to raise a baby whose mother knows my husband so well. Surrogacy was one thing… but this, this is different.”
“Of course it is,” Rachel said, pulling herself forward in her chair as if she could will the world to make sense. “Most women couldn’t do it. Especially since you never actually wanted the open marriage in the first place. This is all on Cam.”
“It’s my fault, too,” I admitted softly. “I never should have agreed in the first place. I knew what could happen. I just didn’t think he’d actually hurt me like this.”
Rachel’s eyes were gentle, fierce. “You also never thought he’d ask to sleep with other women.”
