“Mistress?” I exclaim. “I’m the wife! I mean—husband.” I drop my head into my hands to hide my face. “Please just ignore everything I said.”
Nick’s quiet for a moment before he demands, “He was married thewhole time? And here I felt bad about breaking up with him because he was moving too fast! Why askmeto marry him if he’s already married?”
“He asked you to marry him?” He never mentioned that. Every time we talked about Nick, it sounded like the relationship was pretty new.Not that I have any room to talk.
“Well, he asked me if I wanted to get married.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“It’s still a misleading question if he isalready married.”
“He wasn’t!” God, this conversation is moving too fast for me. Everything needs to slow down. I take a deep breath and lower my hands to look Nick in the eye. “This can’t leave this room, okay? I don’t want to cause any issues with my job.”
Nick is still scowling but he eventually nods in agreement.
“Euan and I met Saturday night.”
Nick’s scowl slowly transforms into confusion.
“We got a few drinks together. One thing led to another …”
He nods along, as if he’s had more than his fair share of drunken entanglements.
“And now we’re married.”
The nodding stops abruptly. “Back up a step,” he says, holding up a finger. “Actually, back up several steps. How did a few drinks lead to marriage?”
“It’s a long story.”And we aren’t friends, so I’m not explaining it to you.“All I’m saying is: Euan didn’t cheat on you; he didn’t cheat on me. There is no cheating in this scenario.”
“Right.” Nick claps his hands and stares blankly at the desk for a moment, then admits. “I understand none of this. Except for the fact that, apparently, what I thought was him rushing into things was actually him moving at a snail’s pace.” Perking back up, he says, “So, you probably want to keep this a secret, right?”
I frown, not sure I like where this is heading. “It is private, so I would prefer you not spread the information around.” I have no desire to explain to my coworkers or my boss that yes, I’m married, but I’m also getting an annulment, even though I rather like my husband.
“Great, I’ll keep your secret if you take my clubs.”
The rapid change of subject makes me dizzy. “I don’t … what clubs?”
“I think you’d be a good fit for anime or video games. You have that kind of nerdy vibe. Why don’t you take over both? I’ll tell the students.” He stands up to make his own escape, and I swear he looks longingly at the window as if he wants to jump out of it. He opts for the door instead, yanking it open and scooting out.
“I don’t have time to supervise any clubs!” I call after him.
“Sorry, can’t hear you! I’ll send the paperwork over later!” He slams the door closed behind him, cutting off any rebuttal. Two seconds later, he opens it back up, whispers, “Forgot my lunch,” and snags it off the desk.
I stare at the door for a long time after he leaves, wondering how Euan ended up dating the human equivalent of a tornado.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Euan
In the middle of my work day, my phone buzzes with a text message.
Calder
call?
video?
A minute later, the notification pops up on my laptop for an incoming video call. I answer it and lean back in the library’s flimsy chair to get the full view of my brother.
Calder sits at his desk, feet kicked up, leaning all the way back in his chair, idly tossing a stress ball from one hand to the other. He’s probably picked up this pose from a movie he’s watched recently, though I can’t guess which one. “Well, you’re alive,” he states matter-of-factly.
