Prologue

Nothing good ever came out of eavesdropping, but it was hard not to hover near the door where it was cracked open just enough to ruin your life. No matter how violently those panicked butterflies fluttered in your tummy, it was natural to stop and listen when you heard your name being said.

Right?

“It’s not that easy,” Paul hissed into the phone. “Junie and I have been together for almost three years.” There was some silence before I heard the words that justified those violent butterfly attacks in my stomach. “Of course, I love you and want to be with you, but it’s not that easy to just break up with her. We live together, honey. It’s going to be awkward as hell to wait for her to have to move out.”

I stood near the door, my heart breaking, but I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t falling into a hysterical mess. I was listening intently because I wanted to make sure that there was no mistaking that Paul was telling someone else that he loved them. I wanted to process what was happening, so that he couldn’t deny it when I confronted him later. I wanted to hear just enough to break my heart completely, so that I didn’t fall for his apologies later. I wanted to let him hurt me enough to make sure that I wouldn’t weaken later. There would be no ‘we can still be friends’ here. I wanted to hate him, so that I could sever whatever love that I had for him, and then move on when I was ready.

“What are you talking about?” he continued to hiss into the phone. “Of course, I’m not still having sex with her. I told you that I put a stop to that months ago.”

He was lying to whoever was on the other end of the phone. While the sex had waned considerably, we were still having it. It might only be a couple of times a month, but we were still having sex, and that was more upsetting than anything else. Discovering that my boyfriend of three years was cheating on me, I knew that there was no way that I’d find peace without a complete physical now. Sure, we still used condoms, but they weren’t guaranteed. We weren’t ready for kids, so we had agreed early on to keep with the double coverage of getting the shot and condoms.

Thank God now.

Getting pregnant, and then co-parenting with a cheating jerk was not the kind of life that I wanted to live. I wanted my children to be raised by parents that loved each other and were faithful to one another.

“No one is better than you, darling,” he went on. “You know you’re the best sex that I’ve ever had. Why would I want to sleep with her when I have you? You’re so wild, sexy, and beautiful. You’re all I want. You know this. The way you let me fuck you at the club is the stuff of dreams. I love you so much, don’t be mad, honey. I’ll end it soon. I promise.”

With all the proof that I needed, I walked away, heading straight for our bedroom. I sat on the bed as I did a mental inventory of all the stuff that was mine, and all of the stuff that mattered enough to take with me. Paul and I lived in a very small two-bedroom apartment because, with rent prices being what they were, we had agreed to the sacrifice of staying here while we saved up for a house. When rent on a decent apartment was the same amount as a house payment, the choice was simple.

Looking around, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that we’d never taken that next step. Paul wanted me gone with the least amount of awkwardness as possible, and I wanted to leave the same way. There was no denying that I was heartbroken-crushed even-but I also had my pride working for me. I could reserve the tears and emotional breakdown for later. For now, I needed to call the gang and have them help me move out as soon as possible. I wasn’t worried about finding a place to stay because I knew that I could stay with Roark.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat on the bed, planning everything out, but the sound of Paul’s Oxfords snapped me out of my thoughts, and I knew that this was it. The man that I thought I was going to marry didn’t exist anymore. Instead of a man who was faithfully in love with me, this Paul stood in his place.

“Junie, have you seen my green tie? The one with the diamond pattern?” I looked up at him as he went to stand in front of the closet mirror. He had a ‘business meeting’ tonight, but now I knew better.

I stood from the bed, then turned to face him. “You know, to be fair, you’ve never even asked me if I would be willing to have sex with you at a club,” I told him, and his entire body froze.

He slowly turned around, his eyes wide, his face red with shame. Or maybe it wasn’t shame. Maybe it was just having gotten caught. Everyone was going to know that he wasn’t the good guy that he wanted us all to believe.

“Junie, I-”

“I’ll be out by the weekend,” I promised him before walking out of our bedroom and his life.