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I had to swallow the giant lump in my throat to be able to speak. “It means the world to me how much you care about Saylor.”
She sniffled. “Well, that’s good, because that’s what we both need to focus on for the next couple of weeks.”
I leaned my forehead to Billie’s and lost the battle to hold back my own tears. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened in my life.”
Tears began to stream down her face, too. “So it’s settled, then. Maya is moving in.”
It felt wrong in my heart, but my head couldn’t deny it was probably the best shot I had at getting through the hearing. So I nodded.
Billie took a deep breath. “There’s just one more thing I need you to do for me.”
“Anything.”
“I can’t see you for a while.”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“My heart will be with you, but it will be too painful to deal with seeing you when you’ll be going home to another woman. And you need to spend all of your spare time on getting to know Maya, not hanging out with me.”
“But…”
Billie held her finger to my lips and shook her head. “I need you to do this for me,
Colby. Please.”
CHAPTER 28
Colby
A few days later, my life had turned upside down: Maya had moved into my apartment, but thankfully, so far she hadn’t been around a whole lot. That was the good news. The bad news was that my separation from Billie had begun, and not being able to see or talk to her every day absolutely blew. What also blew was having to lie to my daughter and tell her Maya was a friend who needed a place to stay.
Maya wasn’t home early Monday morning when I invited Holden over to help me with a little project before I had to get to work.
He peeked his head in the spare room. “That’s her stuff?”
Maya had a leather jacket and some other clothing piled on the bed.
“Yeah.”
Holden looked around. “She’s not here right now, is she?”
“No. She moved her things in and spent last night here, but she’s been pretty MIA overall. I heard her get up and leave at like five this morning. I have no clue where the fuck she went that early, nor do I care.”
“Is she still stripping?”
“No clue.”
“Do you need me to go investigate?” He winked. “Haven’t been to the strip clubs in a while.”
“Do whatever you want, man.” I chuckled.
“Seriously, though, you don’t even know if she’s still stripping? Do you know anything about her life at all?”
“I don’t need to know the real Maya, only the fake one who’s married to me.”
“Fair enough,” he said, lifting his tool chest. “So what am I putting a lock on?”
“My bedroom. I need to be able to lock it from the outside, so she can’t get in while I’m at work.”
He arched a brow. “You think she’s gonna steal from you or something?”
“She’s already stolen my life, why not my watch and the cash I keep around? I don’t trust her.”
“How’s Billie handling all this?”
I sighed. “I wish I knew.”
“What do you mean?”
“We agreed not to see each other while Maya’s living here. That includes talking.”
Holden gaped. “Fuck… You broke up?”
“No!” I said adamantly. “We’re just taking a break because it’s too difficult for her. A break. Not a breakup.”
“But why no talking?”
“Because Billie and I can’t be in each other’s lives in a half-assed way. It’s all or nothing. But we’re able to handle this because we know it’s temporary. That’s the only way it would be doable. It’s not what I want, but it’s for Billie’s mental health. I know not talking at all sounds extreme. But I get it. The whole thing is hurtful. And I’m willing to do anything I need to in order to make sure she’s still around when this is over.”
“Damn. I wish you would’ve just let me marry that bitch.”
I rolled my eyes.
I might’ve been making myself out to be more confident about the situation with Billie than I actually was. Lord knows how long Maya would be living here. For all I knew, she could extort me again to buy herself more time to live here rent free. If this little living arrangement exceeded a few weeks, it was going to be very difficult to maintain my agreement not to see Billie. The other thing I worried about was whether Billie would come to her senses while we were apart and realize she didn’t need to be putting up with this shit at all. She could easily find a man who didn’t come with a fuck ton of baggage and an illegal “wife.” I couldn’t even think about that right now.
“All set,” Holden said a little while later as he tested the lock he’d installed.
“Thanks, dude. I wish I could have you change the locks on the front door, too, so she can’t get in again.” If only.
