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“You don’t want to do it?”
Troy shook his head. “No, I need to get up and move around or something. I’ll clean the kitchen. Did you finish your food?”
Megan nodded, and he whisked away the dirty dishes and started scraping the little bits they hadn’t eaten into the trash while the hot water ran.
It was all so domestic, and she loved him for it. Seeing him in his underwear, lathering up a sponge in hot soapy water while her two cats looked on, made her heart swell in places she hadn’t known it could.
With a few swipes she enabled location settings in the app on both of their phones and did a quick check to make sure they could each see the other from where they were. Until now, she had only done this with Laura and Ash, so having Troy join her inner circle made her smile.
Troy’s phone buzzed in her hand as a message alert popped up.
When are you free? I miss you! We need to catch up soon. Xoxo Samantha
Megan frowned and hit the notification banner on instinct, revealing one of the new dating apps she had heard about. Samantha’s profile picture came up showing a pretty blonde with short hair in a beanie hugging a dog.
Three dots appeared before a kissing face emoji.
I see you’re there, so don’t leave me on read again. I’ve been so fired up while you’ve been gone. Can’t wait to meet up again when you get home.
A low heat fell throughout Megan’s body from the top of her head down through her chest and into the pit of her stomach. Hitting the back button, she held her breath and let it out in a rush of shock and pain when she saw dozens of open chats, some of them with recent new messages.
She clicked on the profile picture, seeing Troy’s picture, a brief description, and a recent update saying he was looking for quick, casual fun.
CHAPTER33
Ice ran through Megan’s fingers as she looked at the phone in her hand, trying to make sense of what everything meant. It wasn’t damning, was it? Maybe he had just forgotten to disable it.
Not wanting to see any more, Megan swiped up for the home screen, and saw not just one, but several dating apps. His carefully crafted breakfast felt like a brick in her gut, and her breathing picked up in shallow spurts as the wave of heat washed over her.
She blinked and tried to look up at him, the man who had been so attentive each night and held her as they fell asleep.
The phone buzzed again. Megan peeked down and saw another message, but this time from a new girl. She didn’t want details but could see from the preview text that it was sexual.
Everything in her went hollow. It had been special. She thought they were special.
“I can’t believe he let her out that late,” Troy said, still talking about the attack they had seen on the news. He seemed to have calmed a little. He wasn’t shaking with anger anymore but was still slapping that sponge around in her sink. She could see the muscle pulse in his jaw, and a vein was raised on his temple.
“You know? It’s too dark and she was running alone, probably with headphones. I can’t believe her husband allowed that.”
Megan blinked a few times and tried to reconcile what had happened last night with what he was saying and the phone in her hand. Why was he acting like this? “She had no reason to think it wasn’t safe. I’m sure she had done it a bunch of times. And, it’s not like he didn’t know where she was.”
He glared at her from where he was elbow deep in the suds. “So, you think it’s fine?”
“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying I don’t like your tone. Her husband trusted her and knew where she was, not that he needed to.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“She’s a grown woman. She can make her own choices. That’s part of ahealthyrelationship, isn’t it?” Megan emphasized healthy relationship and hated herself for it.
“Look, I’m just saying that it’s weird times, and people need to watch out for each other. It’s hard to know people these days—”
“Boy, you got that right.”
Troy paused and shook his head, too deep in his own shit to realize what she meant.
“Exactly. And women are weaker so they’re more likely to be outrun or overpowered—”
Megan felt something in her crack. She had been barely holding it together, but as he talked, he kept digging himself deeper and deeper into a shit hole.
