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“Didn’t you ever hear of forgive and forget? We can still be friends.”
“No, we can’t, because I can’t trust you. What are you doing out of work anyway?”
“I took a personal day. You can trust me, Jayme. I fucked up. I’ve apologized. Can’t we just move on?”
“Sure. You can move right on outta my face.”
“God, you’re stubborn.”
He shrugged, then went about continuing his workout. Brendan shook his head and rolled his eyes before walking away. Good. He was not going to reconsider his decision. Brendan fucked up beyond forgiveness in his book. There would be no reconciliation.
After the gym, he headed home to get dinner started. Tripp would be home in a half hour and he figured it’d be nice to have dinner on the table for when he walked in.
Dinner was just about finished when Tripp walked in the front door. “Honey, I’m home!”
He smiled. Tripp was such a goof sometimes. The timer went off for the chicken in the oven, he pulled the tray out; and set it on the stove. Strong arms came around his waist and pulled him back against a hard body. Tripp kissed the side of his neck, then rested his chin on Jayme’s shoulder.
“Hi,” Tripp murmured.
“Hey.”
“Smells good. I’m hungry.”
“Why don’t you go get changed, then we can eat?”
“But then I’d have to let you go.”
He couldn’t stop the stupid grin that took over his face, and the fluttering of his heart. He turned his head and popped a kiss on Tripp’s temple. “Go on.”
Tripp let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine.”
With one last squeeze, Tripp let him go; and went upstairs to get out of his work gear. By the time Tripp came back down in nothing but a pair of gym shorts, he had put the food on the table. They sat across from each other, and piled food onto their plates.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Slow. We really didn’t have anything going on. Mrs. Maynard gave me a free donut though, that was a plus.”
He chuckled.
“How about you? How was the appointment?”
“Fine. Mallory’s a real piece of work. She can’t understand why I don’t believe her when she says the baby is mine.”
Tripp scoffed and shook his head, then took a bite of chicken.
“Exactly,” he responded.
“She’s an asshole.”
“Speaking of assholes, I ran into Brendan at the gym. He apparently took a personal day. He was trying to make things right with me. Like that’ll ever happen. He ruined our friendship the moment he fucked my wife.” Jayme stabbed a piece of his chicken with his fork.
Tripp nodded. “Definitely.”
“He thinks I should forgive and forget,” Jayme said, then put the chicken in his mouth. "They had been fucking for six months before we got divorced. He lied to my face the entire time and he wants me to forgive him."
“It’s one thing to forgive. Sometimes you need to forgive to get closure. But forget? That one’s a little harder, especially when someone betrayed your trust.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to do anything that you don’t feel comfortable with.”
“I know. He said she came onto him, and he was weak; and that he loves her.”
“The only problem I see is that after the baby is born. If they’re still together, Brendan’s going to be involved in the baby’s life. You’re going to have to be civil with him.”
He hummed his acknowledgment. “I can be civil.”
Tripp nodded. “I know you can.”
“This whole thing has got me stressed.” He admitted. “I keep getting the shakes in my hands.”
“I’ve noticed. Maybe we should take a little vacation, just get away.”
He nodded slowly as he thought about it. “Yeah. I haven’t been on a vacation in a couple years. Probably not since my honeymoon.”
“Well, you are definitely overdue then, my friend. Where would you like to go?”
He finished off his dinner and sat back in his chair. Where would he like to go? There were plenty of places he hasn’t been.
“Do you want to go to a place where we can lay on the beach all day? Or maybe go to a mountainous area where we can hike?” Tripp offered.
“They both sound appealing.”
“There are plenty of places that have both. St. Lucia and Hawaii are a couple.”
“I’ve never been to either.”
“I’ve been to St. Lucia, but not Hawaii.”
“Then let’s go there, it’ll be a first for both of us.”
Tripp smiled brightly, his dimples deepening. “Sounds good to me. I’ll call my sister. She’s a travel agent.”
“Perfect.” He smiled.
“It might take a couple weeks to get everything worked out. Plus, we have to request off from work.”
“That’s okay.”
“Okay. I’ll call her tonight.”
“Great.”
Tripp helped him clean up and put the extra food away. He sat at the kitchen table while Tripp called his sister. Tripp sat down across from him.
“Hey, El... I have a favor to ask...can you book Jayme and I a trip to Hawaii?...Yeah, for a week...yes, we know it’s expensive...I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I couldn’t afford it, El...now that Jayme lives here and splits the bills, I’ve been able to save money; I’m good...Yes, good, look into it and call me back...okay, love you too, bye.”
