Page 8 of Unbreakable
Jeanine stifled a snicker in the basement, covering her face with her hands. This was why we usually had quiet sex in our room, no screaming allowed.
“Yeah, honey. We were just dancing and Mommy was having fun. We’ll try to be quieter.”
“I like to dance,” Alice said, getting upset again. “Why wasn’t I invited?”
I rubbed my forehead. “Sometimes Mommy and Daddy like to dance alone. Sweetie, it’s time for you to be in bed. You want me to take you back up there?”
“I want Mommy,” she insisted, starting to fall apart.
Jeannie made a slicing motion across her throat, shaking her head as she was trying to clean our sweat off the leather couch. I had to stop myself from laughing, because Alice would not find that funny. I climbed the stairs and scooped Alice up.
“Mommy’ll come give you a goodnight kiss when she’s done exercising.”
“I thought you were dancing,” Alice protested.
“You’re right. Dancing is a type of exercise. Let’s go get you tucked in.”
After I tucked Alice in and Jeannie gave the promised goodnight kiss—fully clothed, mind you—we had a good laugh about the almost-intrusion. The mood had shifted from where Jeanine was getting upset, so I didn’t want to ruin it by asking what she meant about me seeing her.
I lay awake for a while, her head on my chest and my fingers in her hair. I mentally replayed our days together. The only time we got with just the two of us was in bed or when she dropped off the kids and came home for breakfast. It was usually something she’d meal prepped over the weekend if it was a weekday. In L.A., we’d gone out for breakfast when we could, taking Bella with us before she was in preschool. Bella had just started in the fall, and J and I hadn’t picked up that brunch time for just the two of us since.
I thought I was attentive. I paid attention to her when I could.
Admittedly, I was just under a lot of stress too. Moving to Ohio and becoming a Rustie was not a smooth transition, but I tried to put a brave face on it. In one way, I wished Jeanine would see that in me. In another, I never wanted her to know. This was my choice, after all. My fault.
And I needed time to fix it before I got caught up in my own web of lies.
I needed my family to love this new life and if it took me faking it till we made it, I’d do it.
THREE
DYLAN
NOW | NOVEMBER
Jeannie
Sorry about the game
Alice made you a drawing of a cat if that helps
(pic)
Another shitty game.
Another embarrassment.
Another day when I questioned the decision to haul my family out of our harmony and into this new hell.
The locker room had the air of a funeral parlor, except there were no sympathy simpers to convey that we all felt sorry for each other. There was just snorting, and spitting, and quiet grumbles as we all dissected the game with our respective allies.
That was the culture of the Ohio Rusties: blaming, bitching, and griping. My only ally was Jack Leroy, my veteran teammate from L.A. who’d gotten traded a few months ahead of me. Even though we weren’t best friends out there, we had good chemistry on the ice, and I think we were a cheap enough package deal for Ohio to try to bring that chemistry here.
Let’s be real, Jack’s kind of a dick. A standup guy, and he’ll fight tooth and nail for what and who he believes in, but a dick nonetheless.
“This place is fucked,” I said to Jack under my breath.
He shrugged. “It’s another day in the show. Couple of old shits like us gotta count our days.”
