Frayed Silk(19)

My mouth is dry as I admit, “Yeah. Mine too.”

“Fuck me, what are you going to do, Lia? That guy”—she points at my phone—“he wants you, bad.”

I groan. “I don’t know. I thought he’d be scared off after what happened on Tuesday.”

She guffaws. “He’s so far from scared it isn’t even funny. In fact, it seems like he only wants you more.”

Damn it. I rub my legs together, feeling frustrated and so confused. “Should I tell him to stop?” I bite my thumb nail. “I should tell him to stop, right?”

She nods, solemnly. “Right.”

Sighing, I pick my phone back up and tap out a response, flashing my phone her way to show her what I sent.



Me: Jared, I’m sorry, but you need to stop. I think you should delete my number.



Lola snorts. “Oh yeah, real convincing.”

Glaring at her, I ask, “What the hell am I supposed to say? He’s been … good to me. I don’t want to be a bitch.”

She remains quiet, biting her lip as she stares at me.

“What?” I ask.

Her blond brows furrow. “You care about him. You like him, don’t you?”

I roll my eyes. “What is this? High school? Wait till you meet him. You’ll like him too. Trust me.”

She snickers. “Yeah, but I know how to look and not touch, my lovely Lia.”

My phone chirps again. “Ignore it,” she practically growls.

I raise my hands in the air. “Fine,” I huff. “Got any coffee? I need something stronger, but it’ll have to do.”

She scoffs, getting up and walking off to the kitchen. I follow her. “Do I have coffee? You should know better than to ask such stupid questions.”

That has me smiling, thankful she doesn’t hate me and that she’s somehow trying to remain supportive through all this. Even if I don’t deserve it.





That night, Greta sits next to me on the couch while we finish watching Beauty and the Beast. I’m a little more lenient with their bedtime routines on the weekend. Leo is out; he went to the effort to send me a text earlier to tell me that he’s having dinner with a client and will be home late. But I don’t mind. After he admitted to noticing the hickey on my neck last night, I would be even more anxious about what to do in his presence than I normally am.

God, I still can’t believe I let Jared do that. But to be fair, I wasn’t exactly thinking straight about anything, so desperate was my need to finally have an orgasm from someone other than myself. Yeah, I’m an idiot. I almost want to come clean to Leo, tell him that something happened but not what he might be thinking and that I’m not going to do it again.

But he either wouldn’t give a damn, or he’d ignore me.

That has me remembering that I didn’t read Jared’s last text from when I was at Lola’s house.

Once it hits nine thirty, I take the kids upstairs to brush their teeth and tuck them in before grabbing my phone and laying back down on the couch. I open it up to Jared’s unread text.



Jared: You can’t make me quit you, Blondie. So don’t even try.



I’m tapping out a response before I can help myself. He needs to know that I can’t do this.



Me: Please, Jared. I need you to stop. I shouldn’t have let it go as far as I did. I’m sorry.



He replies right away.



Jared: I can’t stop thinking about you.



Me: I’ll change my number … and that’s a pain in the ass. Don’t make me do that.



Jared: Shit, okay. Friends?



I bite my lip, thinking about it. It’s the best I can hope for at this stage really. He sends another message through, and I burst out laughing as I picture him singing the familiar song.



Jared: Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?



Me: LOL. Okay … friends only. See you Tuesday.



Jared: ;)



I’m still laughing when Leo walks into the room, brows lowered as he looks down at me. I almost choke as I try to swallow down the panic.

“Hi,” I squeak.

“What’s so funny?” His voice is deceptively soft. He removes his cufflinks while his blue eyes dart all over my face.

I exit out of the texts and sit up. “Nothing, just Lola sending me one of those gif things.” I’m a little shocked by how easily the lie slips past my lips. I’m getting way too good at it.

He stares at me for another second before finally leaving the room.

Of course. The only time my husband pays any attention to me is the one time I don’t want him to.





Jared: Is it Tuesday yet?



I barely suppress a laugh, grabbing the sauce I was looking for from the shelf and moving my shopping cart to the next aisle. My phone buzzes in my hand again when I stop to grab some of Charlie’s cereal and put it in the cart. I check the time and see it’s just after nine thirty. Okay, time to hustle. I left the kids at home with Leo, who said he’d take them to swim practice this morning.

I glance down at the next message.