Page 94 of Nailing Heat
“Has he told you why we got divorced?” she asks Amelia.
“Don’t. Elise, don’t do this,” I beg her.
“Oh, come on, Dex, she deserves to know the truth. And you and I both know that you don’t exactly have the best track record with the truth.” Elise swivels her head back to Amelia. “I caught him in so many lies while we were married.”
“You don’t have to do this. I’ve signed your papers and that takes care of this. Now you can go the fuck back home.” I shake my head and pinch the bridge of my nose before telling her, “You took enough; you don’t need this too. Iwantthe life I’ve built in Tampa. Not whatwehad.”
Elise begins to reply but Amelia cuts her off. “I want to her tell me why you two got divorced. I want to hear it from her.”
“I can tell you. She’s going to hurt you when she tells you.” I argue.
“It’s going to hurt either way,” Amelia says with a shrug. “Might as well rip the Band-aid off and get it over before.”
“Smart girl,” Elise tells her, turning to me. “I like her. It’s too bad that what I have to say will probably break her.”
“Don’t be such a bitch,” I bite.
Elise laughs in my face. “I wouldn’t have to be if you had a better relationship with the truth.” Her attention is back on Amelia now. “I’m sorry that I have to tell you this, after it definitely looks like you slept with my husband.”
I’m seething at this point. I want to walk over to her and push her right out of the apartment. But I don’t. I stand there and let her take away the little bit of happiness that I finally thought I found. After all, I caused her plenty of pain during our marriage. Maybe it’s my turn to feel the immense pain of betrayal that she did.
“I really get no pleasure in telling you any of this. You shouldn’t be in the dark like I was. You should know who you are sleeping with. Dex and I are no longer married because Dex had been sleeping with multiple women behind my back. He would doit whenever he was out of the town with the Patriots. Or sometimes even when they were in town in his office. It’s one of his favorite moves to lay a girl out on that exam table of his. Has he done that with you yet?” she asks Amelia. Amelia shakes her head in return. “He would have gotten there or maybe he has turned over a new leaf. But our marriage ended because he couldn’t stop screwing other women. I turned a blind eye to it at first, but I couldn’t be that woman he repeatedly cheated on. So, I confronted him, and he never denied it. I’ll give him that. Probably the most honest he ever was with me is when he confessed his sins- the number of women and how many times.” She shakes her head and then bitterly adds. “So that is the man that you are sleeping with.”
“The man Iwassleeping with,” Amelia corrects her. She turns to look at me. “This is over. Get out of my house.”
I watch Amelia hobbling down the hallway, leaving me standing there with Elise. “Amelia! Amelia!” I call her name, but she doesn’t even flinch. She doesn’t turn around and that’s when I know I’ve lost her. I turn to Elise, ready to light her up for it.
“You poisonous bitch,” I spit at her. The French toast is burned, ruined, just like Amelia’s and my chance at happiness.
She chuckles and says, “Men in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” Then she shakes her head. “I didn’t want to come here and do this to you, Dex. But you ignored every one of my phone calls. I wanted this divorce to be finalized so that I can move on with my life too. Maybe not as quickly as you, but I wanted that closure and I wanted that space to move on. That’s all I was after. So don’t you dare blame this on me, take some responsibility for your actions for once in your god damn life. Next time maybe you’ll remember to pick up your phone.” She extends the papers in her hand. “Now, that you have signed these, I can get on my with my life.”
Elise turns on her head and leaves the apartment. I’m left standing there in shock. I slide down the wall, my head in myhands and for the first time in my adult life, I cry. I break down in tears thinking about all the things that have been ruined and how I probably lost someone who had become the most important person in my life. I feel someone’s eyes on me; I look up and see Amelia standing there.
She’s now wearing an oversized cropped white T-shirt; jean shorts and her hair has been combed through and pulled back in a ponytail. She looks absolutely beautiful.
“Can we talk?” My voice comes out raspy from the tears.
She shakes her head. “No, you need to leave. Get the fuck out of here. My friends are on their way, and I promise you are the last person any of us wants to see. So, get the fuck out. Someone from the team should be coming here to get your stuff. I don’t want you here anymore. I don’t want your help with my recovery, that will be what Lucas is for. Leave the me the fuck alone from now on. Do you understand me?” Her voice is strong and full of determination.
There is no changing her mind.
“Let me grab my wallet, please,” I reply.
She nods and hobbles back to her room and slams the door. I pull myself up off the floor, gather my necessary belongings and leave the apartment. I have no idea where to go, since I no longer have a home. So, I drive around and finally end up the beach, where I collapse on the sand and cry more tears. Not only for Amelia and what I lost but for Elise and all the shit that I put her through.
Chapter Thirty-Three
~AMELIA~
“How could I be so stupid?” I ask Mac, Cassie and Hendrix. My voice comes out scratchy from all the crying.
As soon as I sent the SOS text, the girls immediately came into the apartment to get me out of there. Now, I’m sitting on Hendrix’s couch, a cup of tea in my hands. My eyes are red-rimmed from the crying. I have no idea what time it is or how long I’ve been here. After they got me out, I came here and collapsed on the couch in tears. They were a godsend, holding onto me and letting me cry, quietly telling me that everything was going to be alright. I have no idea how. But somehow I believe them.
“You aren’t stupid. You believed the man when he said he was divorced. We all did,” Mac says in a soft, comforting tone.
“You should have seen her. She was this fabulous leggy blonde. Perfect outfit, perfect nails and her hair, for being in the Tampa heat, wasn’t frizzy at all. She looked like a fucking model,” I shake my head, wiping at my nose with a tissue. “And you know, when I saw the two of them standing near each other, I could see that they must have made the most striking couple. They fucking looked like Ken and Barbie.”
“Oh, please, he’s no Ken doll,” Hendrix says, shaking her head. “And you are gorgeous.”
