Page 41 of Unbreakable
I scrubbed my face until the rest of my makeup was gone, perhaps scrubbing a little too hard. I tossed off my bra and underwear as I went to get in bed, leaving on the nightie.
What had I become? I went from being a triple-threat performer to being a mom of three in a Midwestern town in the blink of an eye. With a husband who chose the boys over me.
I don’t think I fell asleep, just lying there in a stupor until I heard the garage door. I didn’t move. Dylan’s footsteps stopped in the kitchen, probably scarfing down the snack I left out for him. Maybe ten minutes later, our bedroom door creaked open.
“Where’s my naughty girl?”
He crawled on the bed over me, caging me in from above.
“Hey,” was the best I could give him.
“I got some really hot texts from this slutty girl I know,” he cooed, planting a kiss under my jaw.
“I’m tired, Dyl,” I lied. Well, maybe not a full lie. I was tired, but it was tired of his shit.
He chuckled. “Too much wine? Or did you dick yourself too hard with that dildo?”
I gave up the most pathetic excuse for a sympathy laugh. “Neither.”
Dylan’s breath caught. “Ohhhh-kay?”
I clamped my teeth together so hard my jaw almost cramped.
“You going to tell me what’s going on, Jeannie?”
I drew a breath through my nose. “You didn’t text me back.”
He scoffed, like he was begging me to see reason. “J, I was with the guys. I had to slap my hand over my phone to keep them from seeing you looking so hot.”
“Oh, well, at least you think I’m hot,” I said, “but not hot enough to come home to.”
“Jeannie, I’m here right now,” he said, acting like I was being irrational. “The guys asked if I’d go out and I went.”
“And you couldn’t tell me that? And then you come home expecting me to still be waiting for you?”
He crawled off me, sitting on the edge of the bed and facing away from me. He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. “Should I have asked your permission to go out tonight? You already did bedtime and everything. It’s not like you needed help.”
“Maybe, Dylan, I just wanted you to want me enough that you couldn’t wait to get with me. That you’d step away from your friends for a fucking minute to play a sexy game with me. We’ve fought twice in the last few days. Maybe I wanted to know things were okay.”
He threw out an exasperated hand. “We’re fine, Jeannie. You don’t need to show me your tits for us to be okay.”
My eyes brimmed with tears and I turned to face away from him. This was so embarrassing. Instead of appreciating myefforts, he flipped them back in my face. “Come on, J. Are you crying?”
“I just want to go to sleep.”
Dylan heaved a sigh. “Jeanine, you looked hot. I was excited to see you, but I also need to fit in better with the team.”
“It’s fine. I get it.” My voice was a little too bright.
He put his hand on my upturned hip. “I love you, J.” He paused like he was going to say more, but didn’t, giving my hip a playful wiggle. “I’m going to get ready for bed.”
Dylan wriggled into bed behind me a bit later, skating his hand under my nightie. “You took the bra off,” he hummed.
Well, when you ignore me, the lingerie goes away.
Kisses pressed into my neck and shoulders, and he lowered the strap of my nightie, dipping his hand to move around my breast.
You need to leave.
