Page 75 of Cursing My Cheating Husband

“That’s sweet, but I can teleport. Moving boxes isn’t really an issue.”

“Oh right. Witch stuff.” He grinned. “Sometimes I forget you’re, like, magical and shit.”

I laughed. He did have an endearing simplicity. We lay there for a moment in silence, listening to the waves crash against the beach below.

I should have been basking in post-orgasmic bliss, relishing my last hookup with Ryder.

Instead, I found my mind drifting to another man entirely.

I hated that I was thinking about him. But these thoughts had been gnawing at me for hours, ever since that conversation on the deck. I shouldn’t say anything, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“When I told Maddox this was over, that his chances of lifting the curse were basically gone...” I paused. “He was so calm about it.”

“Yeah?” Ryder said, while holding in a hit from his vape.

“I expected him to freak out. To beg and plead and try to negotiate. But he just... accepted it. Said he understood. Told me to enjoy my weekend.”

“Yeah, must be all the therapy,” Ryder replied casually.

I sat up so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash. “I’m sorry, what?”

“The therapy. That he’s been doing all summer? I assumed you knew about it.”

“Maddox would never go to therapy.” I was absolutely certain of this. “If he told you he is, it’s a lie. He’s working some angle.”

“I don’t think so.” Ryder scratched his jaw. “We noticed him going somewhere on his lunch hour and coming back all weird and intense, and Duke had to really pull it out of him. He didn’t want to tell us.”

I stared at Ryder, trying to process this information.

Maddox. In therapy. The man who thought asking for directions was a sign of weakness.

“He’s lying to you,” I stated with complete confidence. “I wonder what he’s trying to cover up.”

“I dunno. It sounded believable because of how different he’s been.”

“Different how?”

Ryder shrugged. “I don’t know, just... nicer? He stopped talking shit about people at work. He keeps apologizing to Duke and me for things he did years ago that we don’t even remember.”

Okay, this was obviously some kind of con. Maddox performed change when it suited him, when there was something in it for him. I’d seen it too many times to fall for it again.

“And it all seemed to track with the charity shit,” Ryder added.

“Oh gods.” I pressed my palm to my forehead. “What charity shit?”

Ryder groaned. “He’s being a real pain in the ass about it. He keeps pushing the company to get involved in charitable initiatives. Like, aggressively.”

“Maddox? Charity?”

“I know, right? The whole office just had to do a volunteer day at a homeless shelter. It was the worst! I had to ladle soup for six hours. Six hours, Callie!”

I tried to picture Maddox at a homeless shelter, serving food to people in need. The image refused to form in my mind.

“And organizing that was all him,” Ryder continued. “Now he’s pushing the company to make this big donation to the shelter. Like, a serious chunk of change. It’s becoming an issue with the partners. He might get fired if he keeps agitating about it.”

“Maddox might get fired... for caring too much about homeless people?”

“He’s being too pushy about it. Keeps sending emails about ‘corporate responsibility’ and ‘giving back to the community.’ He has to be more diplomatic. There’s only so far you can push this stuff before the bosses won’t stand for it anymore.”