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Can we not tell Nora?
I reached for the phone with a start, hoping to slip it into my pocket before Nora read the text, but her startled gasp revealed she already had.
“Is that what you wanted to talk about?” she asked under her breath.
“No,” I stammered. “Well, yes, but can we do this outside?”
Tears brimmed in her brown eyes and her chin quivered. The atmosphere shifted in the room with only those three sentences. Len and Cal shared a look that spelled trouble for me if Nora believed I was sleeping with other women.
Payton’s text certainly hadn’t helped.
Not that I could blame Payton. She’d been a wreck as soon as the alcohol wore off and the embarrassment seeped in. Her torrent of apologetic texts hadn’t stopped, even after I reassured her everything was fine. One of those texts slipped through to Nora, who looked like I’d just admitted to murdering Trashcan.
Nora nodded, and I ignored the confused looks around the table as we stood.
“Be back in a second,” I said, plastering a fake smile and hoping that was true.
We walked outside, the early winter chill biting enough that I grabbed Nora’s jacket.
“Give me a minute to explain,” I said, the tightness in my chest taking over my entire body as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Please.” Her voice wavered. “Please explain to me how someone else’s lipstick ended up on your shirt and why you’re getting extremely suspicious text messages after I specifically asked you whether you’d seen anyone else.”
“It’s a misunderstanding.” I bumbled around, searching for the right words, but came up short.
She wiped the tear off her cheek with the sleeve of her coat, biting her bottom lip for a breath before exhaling loudly. “What did you say to me the day we married?”
“That we were in this together.”
“But we aren’t, are we? We’ve been lying to everyone since we got together, including each other.”
I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Please, let me just start from the beginning.”
She pursed her lips with a curt nod.
“Payton and I kissed a year ago. We were both drunk, and afterward, we both said it was a mistake. Or, I thought it was a mistake. Payton didn’t see it that way. She thought my relationship with her father was standing in the way of us being together and you were a work-around.”
“Was I?” she asked, the gasp of shock piercing my chest.
“Of course not.” I reached for her, but she pulled back. “In Chicago, we went out as friends. She got a little too friendly; I told her I wanted to be with you.”
“And the lipstick?”
I shrugged. “We took some pictures together, maybe then. She kissed my cheek. And then I helped her back to her apartment.”
“You were at her apartment?”
“Briefly. I wanted to make sure she got home safe.” I winced. “And we had a drink.”
Her plush pink lips turned into a thin, grim smile.
“Trust me,” I said, my voice just a little too pleading. I could see her slipping away from me. The flicker of doubt in her eyes grew to a full flame, and I panicked, retreading the conversation to pull her back. “I love you.”
“You lied to me. And according to that text, you weren’t even going to tell me.”
“I was when I found the right time.”
She closed her eyes, letting out a soft snort. “I need time to think. I’m not mad, just…”
