Page 109 of Play Fake
He sets Jack back on the play mat where he was having his tummy time, and he holds out a hand to me to help me up.
I don’t take it. I can get up myself, and it’s like taking a symbolic stand that I can manage on my own, thank you very much.
“First door on the right upstairs,” Asher says to Dex, who nods.
I follow him up the stairs, and we turn into the room Asher just mentioned.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly once the door is closed behind us.
“I have some questions, starting with where the hell you were last night.” I fold my arms over my chest and brace myself for some snide answer about how it’s none of my business.
“That’s fair. I went to a club, drank myself stupid, went to a VIP lounge that’s not my father’s, got into some trouble, got rescued from getting into more trouble, and woke up in my coach’s guest room this morning,” he says.
At least there weren’t any other women, I guess.
“What else do you want to know?” he asks.
I lift a shoulder. “I don’t know. How are we managing this mess? Are we still attending events together? Still pretending to be married? What do I say on the reunion show?”
He closes his eyes and lets out a soft breath, and when he opens his eyes, they’re dark with sincerity. “I realized how stupid I was, and I want to turn things around, Ains. I don’t want to lose you. It was a fight, that’s all. It’s not the end.”
“Then how come it is?” I whisper.
“What can I do to get you back?”
“Nothing. It’s over,” I say.
“There has to be something.” He tugs on the ends of his hair, and I’m glad he’s putting up a fight for this. It feels like he cares.
But that doesn’t change what split us apart in the first place.
“I’ve thought it through, and I can’t be with you if you’re putting us in danger. So unless you give up the lounge, which I know you can’t…well, then it’s over.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “You know I can’t.”
I press my lips together and nod. I knew that would be his answer, and honestly, there’s something to be said for his loyalty. I just wish his loyalty wasn’t entirely to the wrong entity. “Desi said she’d watch Jack for a few days. I’m going to head home and see my family while we sort through this. I’ll be back on Monday,” I say.
He blows out a breath. “At the reunion, you say you’re married to me. That was always the plan. It’s why we did it in the first place. It doesn’t have to change now just because our circumstances have.”
“Okay. Then I guess I’ll see you Monday.”
“Yeah,” he says quietly, and I walk out of the bedroom without a goodbye.
CHAPTER 47: Dex Bradley
A Shitty Practice
She really left. She really went home to Chicago.
When she said it, I guess I didn’t think she was serious. But she’s on a plane right now, at least according to Desi, who’s been in touch with her.
She didn’t text me to tell me she got a flight, but I guess it’s no longer my information to have given our situation.
I would’ve taken her to the airport. I would’ve given her a little extra time with Jack—which I know she would have wanted. I see the way she looks at him like he’s hers, and in many big ways, he is. She stepped into the role of his mother when he no longer had one, and I treated her like the hired help.
I’ve been such a dick.
But if I could do it all over again, I’m not sure I’d really do anything differently. I wouldn’t knowhowto do anything differently. I’m fumbling my way through all of this.
