Page 58 of Hot and Bothered
Evan didn’t answer. He came over to the living room and stood near me, but not next to me.
“Alice,” he said again, his voice flat. “What are you really asking?”
I steeled myself.
“Are you cheating on me?” I asked.
“I can’t believe you’re even asking me that,” he said.
“You’re not denying it,” I said quietly, my heart sinking.
“That’s because it’s a ridiculous question,” he said. “I’m not cheating on you.”
A huge wave of relief washed over me, nearly leaving me reeling. I let out a whoosh of breath, my lungs burning from having held it in for so long.
“You’re not?” I repeated hopefully, just to make sure.
“Of course not!” His voice grew loud. His brows were furrowed and his eyes narrowed. “Did you really think I’d do that to you?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe.” I wrung my hands in front of me. “I just saw a girl asking to stay over and my mind went to all these different places.”
“And one of those places was that I’m cheating.” It wasn’t a question. “I can’t believe this.” Evan started pacing around the room, a hand buried in the strands at the back of his head. “What have I ever done to make you think I’d do something like that?”
“Nothing!” I said in a rush. “You’ve been wonderful. Perfect. I just… I don’t know. It wasn’t like I was positive you were seeing someone behind my back. I just considered it as one possibility.”
“Is that why you’ve been so weird all day?” he asked. “Christie messaged me this morning. Did you go all day without talking to me about this?”
I nodded miserably.
“Why?” he exploded. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”
“I was afraid,” I said in a small voice. “As long as I didn’t know for sure, there was still a chance everything was actually okay. I didn’t want to risk losing you.”
He let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.
“So you were going to just keep on thinking I was cheating on you?” he asked. “For how long? How long were you going to keep this to yourself?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to ask you this morning. And then I wanted to ask you tonight. But I chickened out.” Like I always did.
“You really thought I’d cheat on you.” He said it again, as if he still couldn’t believe it.
“I’m sorry.” Tears filled my eyes. “I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. I didn’t want to think you’d do something like that. But can’t you see it from my point of view? A girl asked to spend the night. What was I supposed to think?”
“That it was a friend, or a family member, or anything else except another woman!” Evan shouted.
Evan never raised his voice. Not to me, or anyone else.
“I never meant to hurt you,” I said as tears spilled down my cheeks. “But you’ve never once mentioned any family members to me.”
Evan inhaled deeply, then let it out, as if trying for a calming breath. It didn’t seem to work, because when he spoke again, his voice was still full of hurt and anger.
“I can’t talk about this anymore,” he said. “I’m going to bed.”
“But—!” I protested, taking a step forward.
“No.” He shook his head. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
I reached out as he marched to the bedroom, but he jerked away to avoid my outstretched hand.
