Eslin stares at the screen like it might start bleeding.
And me?
I feel everything inside me shatter just as fast as that glass.
Declan
Did I just blow up my life?
Maybe.
Did I just drag Marlow into the blast radius with me?
Also… maybe.
But in the moment, I didn’t care. I meant every word.
She needed to know. She needs to feel the wreckage she left in her wake. The sleepless nights, the fire in my chest that won’t burn out, the way her silence echoes louder than any crowd I’ve ever played for. I didn’t just say it for the cameras. I said it for her. Because I’m done pretending I’m okay.
And before I can talk myself out of it, I’m storming through the corridors of the front office like a man who hasn’t slept in days. Because I haven’t. I’m running on caffeine, adrenaline, and the hope that if I look her in the eye, I’ll finally get through.
I need to see my wife.
Not the boss. Not the executive.
My wife.
And God help anyone who tries to stop me.
And then I see her.
She’s sitting with two other women and I’m thirty seconds from screaming at them to leave.
Except I see that one is Coach Saunders so I keep my cool.
For a moment.
Then it hits me—Coach Saunders must’ve known the whole damn time. That the Marlow I kept ranting about in therapy wasthisMarlow. My wife. And I’ve got to hand it to her. She played it cool.
But now… now I’ve got a new problem.
I’m going to have to break it to Marlow that her trusted confidante also knows what she sounds like when she comes.
I gave Coach Saunders a very detailed play by play of our wedding night.
The other woman in the room notices me standing there then clears her throat. “Umm. Low?”
Meanwhile, my wife is yelling at the top of her lungs.
“I cannot believe that fucker! Did he say my name? How long before people start digging into who Declan Fucking Agassi’s wife is? That arrogant fucking—”
“Honey,” I interrupt. “I’m home!”
I like seeing my wife all fired up. It means she still cares.
I happen to like that a lot.
She’s standing behind her desk, eyes locked on the TV, looking like every mistake I’ve ever made—and the only one I’d make again in a heartbeat.
