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She grinds her teeth and snarls. “You’re an asshole.”
I roll my eyes at her lousy retort. “Haven’t been called that one before, sweetheart.”
Her mouth falls open. “It’s like I don’t even know you anymore, Liam. One minute, you’re flirting with my sister, kissing and leading her on, and then you’re flying back and forth to Vegas, driving a luxury car, and now you’re married to some woman you’ve never mentioned.” She blows out a frustrated breath, flailing her arms in the air. “It’s not adding up.”
The door cracks open, then Victoria walks in with a towel around her head and one wrapped around her body. “Hey, what’s going on?” she asks sweetly with a forced smile. Then she turns. “Sophie, right?”
Sophie smiles at her, being as polite as ever, though she was ready to rip off my head seconds ago. “Yep,” Sophie responds between gritted teeth.
“Missed you, sweetie,” I tell Victoria. She saunters over, then pulls my head down to kiss her. She puts on a show by shoving her tongue down my throat and moans.
“Missed you too,” Victoria says breathlessly, then turns back to Sophie. “Oh, I’m sorry. How rude of me.” She snickers and even blushes as if she’s actually embarrassed. I have to stop myself from rolling my damn eyes. “It’s just so hard not to kiss this hunk of a man.”
Sophie studies Victoria from head to toe. “I’ll let you get changed,” Sophie mummers, but when her eyes meet mine, they tell me I’m a dead man. She can get in line because there’s a list of people ahead of her who’d love to kill me first.
When the door clicks closed, Victoria smirks. “She doesn’t believe it, does she?”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Then I guess we’ll have a lot of convincing to do,” she singsongs, dropping her towel and revealing her perfect slim body. I know they’re all downstairs right now, probably discussing how much bullshit this marriage is.
Victoria wraps her arms around my neck and presses her mouth to mine. “Fuck me. Loud enough for your friends to hear,” she whispers.
“I can’t,” I tell her. If this was a different time—before I kissed Maddie and if she didn’t live here—I’d consider it. But right now, it feels so wrong and dirty that I can’t even get hard.
“No?” She questions as if she’s offended. “I’m not sure you realize how this works.”
“Victoria,” I hiss. “I do understand how it works, but we agreed the roles were played in front of people, not behind closed doors.”
“I told you when we first met that I love to fuck, and a girl has needs. So as long as I have this ring on my finger”—she reaches out and grabs my dick—“this is mine too.”
I feel sick at the truth of her words. Too damn bad I can’t get fucking drunk first. Even though we hooked up once before, I barely remember it and wish I never had. The manipulation runs blood deep, and she literally holds my life in her hands, so I do what I have to do and regret every second of it. Once she collapses on the bed next to me, I leave and take a shower. Afterward, I can’t even go downstairs, so instead, we fall asleep together.
A few days later on the Fourth of July, Victoria and I watch Sophie perform with the symphony in the park. It’s been a tradition since we’ve been friends, and I haven’t missed it once. She’s a killer violinist, and we all usually have a great time hanging out.
As soon as I show up with a blanket in my hand and Victoria on my arm, Mason and Hunter greet me, but Maddie walks away. Lennon follows her with the kids, but I keep a smile on my face. Maddie’s avoidance only encourages Victoria to step up her public affection, to the point where Mason laughs and tells us to get a room. Hunter cracks a joke about the newlywed honeymoon phase and how he remembers it well. A chuckle escapes me, but there’s nothing funny about it.
Sophie plays amazing, as always, and afterward, we all get into position to watch the fireworks. Victoria asks for a bottle of water, and I get up to buy a couple. I pass Maddie, who’s looking extra beautiful in her cutoffs and crop top. The warm summer breeze blows through her dark hair that’s slightly curled. She’s even layered on her makeup more than usual.
Looking around, I notice guys watching her, but she’s too focused on her phone to realize it. When she finally looks up at me, I smile, but she scowls and turns her head. I’m half-tempted to force her to talk to me so I can apologize for what I’ve done, but I don’t. She’s ignored me for the past three days, though I can’t blame her. Instead, I swallow down my emotions, robotically doing what every husband should do, and make my wife happy.
