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“Oh, Zeus. Let’s talk about your name.” I try again to skirt around the issue at hand.
“I’ll tell you about my name if you answer me. No trying to change the subject. You need someone to talk to, and I’m here. Close your eyes. We’re laying in your bed, remember? Is it comfortable?” He scoots a little closer, laying his hand over my waist. His proximity instantly makes me feel warmer and for some reason, at ease.
My lip wobbles. When was the last time someone said those supportive things to me? I have my parents, but they’d never understand my marriage and the baggage it now carries. I follow his advice, closing my eyes to picture us laying in my bed. My shoulders relax a touch and I find myself wanting to open up to this man who has already offered me more today than anyone else has. “Mike, my husband.”
He grumbles, “Ex.”
I clear my throat and continue, “I found out today he’s bought a house with someone else.” I open my eyes with the admission, taking in his expression to my turmoil.
His brow furrows again as he frowns heavily, “You don’t want to split up? I thought he cheated on you?”
I nod. “He does. It’s complicated.” Zeus grunts, flashing me a silent look that tells me he’s not buying it. “He bought the house with a woman. The real estate agency thought I was her and sent the email to our joint email account we use for bills and stuff. When I spoke to the agency’s receptionist, she asked about my engagement ring and told me they were painting the baby’s room so we could move in two weeks.”
“And you had no idea about any of it?” he guesses.
“Not a clue.”
“Why would you want to stay with someone who doesn’t treat you the way you deserve? I don’t get it. I can see the betrayal and shadiness of what he’s doing, but don’t you want to leave him? Is he making you stay? Is he abusive?”
“I’m upset for Tanzanite. He’s already an absentee parent most times, and I know this new development will only make her see less of him. My heart is broken for her, not me. My marriage with Mike has been over for years; that fully sunk in today when I realized his latest betrayal doesn’t hurt me the way it should. And to answer your other question, no, he’s not physically abusive to me. I haven’t been forced to stay with him. I’ve done it out of anger and resentment.”
“Care to explain why anger would make you stick around?”
I shrug. “Your opinion of me might change if I’m honest.”
“Look, sweetheart, I’m kinda crazy about you already, and I don’t even know you, so how about you give me a chance to decide how I feel?”
Releasing a tense breath, I admit, “I like you. I don’t want the way you look at me to change already.” His brow raises while he remains silent, waiting. “Fine. I stayed because why should I have to give up my life to make his easier? So, he cheats, I’m not in love with him anymore. He broke my trust and our vows many times, I grew increasingly bitter each time and it made me think. I could leave, possibly struggle to find a job and end up working so much I miss half of Tanny’s life growing up, or I could stay. He’d have to keep me living comfortably because he’s the one who wronged me, and I could be home to raise my daughter. She gets a mom who is completely devoted to her, and Mike had the illusion of a successful marriage and family to his business associates.”
He lets out a low whistle. He’s gazing at me differently but it’s not with disgust, more like pride sparkling in his irises. “Damn. I was right about you.”
“Oh great, just what I wanted to hear,” I mumble, not ready to lose the one person in my life making me feel alive again.
“You’re smart. Not many women have the balls to do what you’ve been doing, and I have to say, I admire you for it. Fuck him, he’s still getting less than what he deserves, but at least you’ve done something. I’d prefer it if you took his ass to court and drug him through the dirt, but we’ll work on it.”
I catch myself smiling. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Zeus isn’t my real name, it’s my road name.”
“Road name?” I echo, confused.
He nods. “I’m in a motorcycle club. I have been for most of my life. The brothers called me Zeus, and it stuck.”
“Because you have a lightning bolt somewhere and command the Gods?” I grin, teasing.
“Nah, because I rode my bike on a flat tire, and it was shooting sparks the entire time along with fucking up my rim. Back then I was big into Greek mythology and gave the brothers hell all the time about how not to piss off the Gods, then they came back at me calling me Zeus. Said I could make lightning all right.”
A laugh escapes me, but I can’t help it. The story is ridiculous. “Why on earth would you not just pull over?”
“We may’ve had some assholes behind us, and they outnumbered us three to one.”
Shaking my head, I can only laugh more. It feels good to smile at a story you’d think was fiction. “Something tells me you had a wild life. You never married?”
His expression sobers quickly. “No, never married. I, uh, didn’t know I had a kid either until after Josiah was already born.”
“You weren’t with his mom? Nothing serious?”
He shakes his head, “She showed up one day claiming he was mine, and she couldn’t deal with being a mom any longer. I stepped away from my club, went nomad, and made a life for Josiah.”
