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“I did,” she whispers, failing to lift her eyes.
Questions hurl through my mind so fast that I struggle to grasp one to throw at her.
“How?” I seethe. “When?”
A heavy, unrecognizable tension consumes the room, and for a moment, I’m not sure she’ll answer.
She blows out a stressed breath, and her eyes are cold and teary when she raises them. I ache to stand and comfort her, wrap her in my arms, but her betrayal stops me. I need answers.
“It was a week before I broke things off with him,” she explains, taking slow steps before collapsing onto the chair next to the couch, her shoulders slumping. “He took me to Vegas for a weekend, and we went clubbing with his friends. I drank a lot, and somehow, marriage came up. It sounded like a good idea at the time. I was alcohol-and love-drunk and thought we’d be together forever.”
“If you were drunk, you can get an annulment. Problem solved.”
She clutches her arms around her chest, and our eye contact is wiped out again when she stares at the floor, releasing a heavy sigh. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Carolina, look at me, damn it,” I snarl, the ache to console her returning. “You file. Sign the papers. It’s done.”
My job as her best friend is to be her rock.
I’ve taken on that role. Loved that role.
I can’t be her rock if she’s hurting me.
My fear of our friendship being ruined has become a reality.
“He threatened to tell my parents,” is her ridiculous reply.
I scoff. “Did you think no one would find out about your marital bliss? Why’d you tie the knot if you had to keep it a secret?”
“Our plan was to wait until he was no longer my professor. Until then, we kept it low-key.”
“That’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard.”
Those beautiful, deceitful eyes of hers widen. “Wow. Really, Rex?”
“Yes, really.” I scrub my hand over my face. “Why do you care about your parents? You won’t be the first person to divorce someone. They won’t like it, but they’ll get over it.”
“He …” She hesitates. “He said he’d grant me a divorce if …”
I wait for her to finish but get silence. “If what?”
She swallows a few times. “If I stay away from you for a year and try to work things out with him.”
“Are you kidding me?” I shake my head, anger burning through me. “Scratch my earlier statement.That’sthe stupidest shit I’ve ever heard.” My temples throb. “Are youconsideringit?”
A sharp pain runs through me at her lack of response. Even with what my father put our family through, I’ve never been so hurt.
“I don’t know what I’m considering!” she cries out. “All of this has just been thrown at me! I need to get my head straight. I just need time!”
“Time?” I fire back. “How long? Ayear, like he’s asking?”
“I never said that’s what I want,” she chokes out. “I said, hegaveme that option.”
“Fuck this.” I stand and pull my keys from my pocket. “Someone needs to set this asshole straight.”
