Page 26 of Make Me Sin (Bad Habit 2)
He stands over me, livid with rage and betrayal, his face red, veins popping out in his neck. “Tell me the fucking truth, Chloe!”
And I can’t lie. I want to. With every fiber of my being, I want to lie. But I don’t.
White and shaking, I whisper, “Yes.”
With a guttural groan, he turns away. He snatches his shirt from the floor and yanks it over his head. On his way to the door, he grabs a vase from the niche in the hallway and hurls it across the room. It hits the opposite wall and shatters with a sound like a bomb.
He yanks open the door, then slams it behind him so hard the entire building shakes.
I sit naked on my living room sofa, tears sliding silently down my cheeks, watching the shards of a million tiny glass fragments twinkle like diamonds on the floor.
When the phone rings a few hours later, I’m still naked in the living room. I’ve taken the time to wrap myself in a blanket and lock the front door, but I went right back to the sofa where I’ve been lying since Eric left, crucifying myself.
I pick up the handset from the table next to the sofa. “Hello.”
“Why do you sound like your cat just died?”
It’s Grace. “You know I don’t own a cat.”
“True. Give me a mulligan. Why do you sound like you’ve just returned from a funeral?”
“I’m a whore.”
There’s a pause. Finally, she says, “Really? What nasty deed did you do? And how much did you get paid for it? I want all the details, I’m thinking of writing a book.”
“I didn’t get paid anything.”
Grace scoffs, “Then you’re not a whore.”
“Fine, I’m a slut.”
She says warmly, “It’s one of the things I most love about you, sweetheart.”
Staring at the shadows crawling across the ceiling from passing headlights, I heave an epic sigh.
“All right, out with it. What’s wrong?”
With Grace, it’s best you get right to the point. As a therapist, she’s always got one eye on the clock while you’re telling your sad story. Also, she was involved in a car accident when she was in high school that killed her parents and left her with no memory of her life before the crash. Other, weaker-willed people might have coped by turning to drugs or freaking out, but Grace decided to handle it by living every moment as if it were her last. For her, there is no past or future, only the present. She has zero tolerance for anything that wastes time. So I launch right in.
“Eric and I were fooling around and I cal
led him another guy’s name.”
Raucous laughter. I should have known she’d find that amusing. When the snorts and guffaws have finally died down, she says, “And I take it Mr. Law and Order took exception to your little faux pas?”
“It’s more than a little faux pas, Grace! It’s practically adultery!”
“It’s not adultery if you’re not married, Chloe.”
I glare at the ceiling. She should not be excusing me with semantics right now. “Fine. It’s practically cheating, then.”
“Don’t be silly,” she says breezily. “Every woman thinks of someone other than her partner from time to time when she’s having sex. It’s completely normal. Your only mistake was opening your mouth.”
“Yes, well now my foot is permanently inserted in that mouth. Eric stormed out of here like he was headed toward a murder spree.”
Grace mutters, “Or to put a choke hold on some innocent person of color.”
“Grace!”
