West

Piper has been asleep for hours, but I haven’t so much as even closed my eyes. I don’t know if Cannon will be busting through the door at any second, trying to start shit with her. If that happens, my ass needs to be awake.

Regardless, I’m not even close to being tired. My mind is too full.

Things with Tilly are a fucking mess, and there has to be a resolution soon because we can’t keep going on this way. The commentating gigs are weighing on me. And I know, no matter how goddamn hard I try, I can’t walk away from Piper.

Since she fell asleep, my brain has skated circles around all the possibilities of where my life is headed—the scenarios that could play out over the next few weeks and the different outcomes. Staying here isn’t helping me come up with any answers. I need to get home before Tilly wakes up and realizes I’m not there.

I slide away from Piper’s body and throw my T-shirt over my head. I lace up my sneakers and kiss her cheek. “I’ll text you later,” I whisper.

She doesn’t even stir. She drank enough last night to keep her passed out for a while.

It isn’t even six in the morning yet as I start my way across the beach toward my house.

I promised Tilly I’d call my attorney today. I intend to have that checked off before she has the chance to ask me again. Since Lloyd is used to my hockey schedule, he won’t at all be surprised that I’m phoning this early. I hit his number in my Contacts and wait for him to pick up.

“Good morning, West,” he says.

“Morning, Lloyd. Listen, Tilly’s parents have a business down here on the beach. It’s a water sports company that they’ve owned for years. Find out what the fair market value is and offer them ten percent above it. Have the paperwork in Tilly’s name, not mine.”

“No problem. I’ll happily take care of it. But I have to ask, are you only putting it in her name for tax purposes, or is there something else I should know about?”

Lloyd has been my attorney for my entire career. He made sure my assets were protected when Tilly and I got married, and he’s overseen every financial investment I’ve made. His question isn’t because he’s nosy; it’s because he’ll be the one who handles the divorce.

“We’re going to be separating,” I tell him.

Fuck, I should be having this conversation with Tilly first, not Lloyd. I feel like shit, saying those words when my wife hasn’t even heard them.

“I’m sorry, West. It’s not the news I like to hear.”

The water laps not far from my sneakers, and I kick at one of the waves. “I want her to be taken care of. I know the purchase of this business will help with that.”

“Your prenup will help, too. She’ll be awarded a substantial settlement based on the amount of years you’ve been married. As long as she’s reasonable and she invests wisely, she’ll never have to work again.”

“Good. That’s important.”

“Should I have my team start drafting the documents?”

I stop walking and stare at my house up ahead. It’s about a quarter of a mile from where I stand.

When I married Tilly, I didn’t consider the future. I saw my child growing in her stomach, and I had hockey running through my veins. Nothing else mattered. Not the problems that were bigger than us or the weakness of our love or the only thing that kept us attached.

And, now, I’m here, on the phone with my attorney, without my child, thinking about a woman who isn’t my wife.

Tilly and I have been doing it wrong since the moment we met.

I’m not going to end it that way, too.

“Let me talk to her first,” I say. “I’ll text you when I’m ready.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

I thank him and disconnect the call.

I make my way in through the back door of my house. I don’t expect Tilly to be awake, but she’s sitting at the kitchen table, in the same seat she was in last night.

She says nothing as I grab two bottles of water from the fridge.

I set one in front of her and take the seat across from her. “Before you ask, I’ve been at Piper’s house. I went over there not too long after you went downstairs last night.”

My wife is one of the strongest women I’ve ever been with. The only time I’ve seen her cry is the morning we lost our son. She’s more inclined to get angry, to attack with words, to put up a defense to hide what she’s really feeling.

It’s there now. A mask of anger. Thinned out lips, crossed arms over her chest, eyelids narrowed as she glares at me.

There are times I just want to unwrap those arms and shake her, beg her to show me who she really is, what she’s feeling underneath it all. Maybe my honesty will make her do that.

At this point, it’s all I have left.

“I didn’t fuck her,” I say. “But I have in the past, times when we weren’t swinging.”

“I know.”

I shake my head. “How?”

“You don’t chase me like you used to, so I know someone else has been getting your attention. Then, I smelled her on your face when you came home from your morning run. I didn’t know it was her. I just assumed.” She isn’t even yelling, but her voice is sharp.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

She breaks our eye contact and looks out the kitchen window.

I already know the answer to my question. Shit between us just works. It’s easier to stay together than to separate. It isn’t like she isn’t getting laid. She pretty much does what she wants with the security of having more money than she needs and without the worry of having to get a job.

When she glances back at me, she shrugs. “I’m saying something now.”

“Where’s your fight, Tilly? You’re not going to let things end this easily, are you?”

“You were never mine to begin with. You were just on loan. I’ve always known that. And, once we lost him…”

I see a crack in her face, but it doesn’t last. The softness leaves as quickly as it came.

“I knew it was just a matter of time before I lost you, too. I figured I’d have you for a few more seasons. I just didn’t expect you to get injured and for us to move here and have all this time together. Ironic, isn’t it—that time is the thing that eventually drove us apart?”

It’s the tamest conversation we’ve ever had, and it shocks the hell out of me.

My wife is anything but tame.

Something is keeping her reserved, and I want to know what it is.

“You were awake that morning when you smelled her on my face. You’d showered, your hair was wet, and you reeked of lotion. What were you hiding from me?”

She smiles, her eyes almost gleaming. “Don’t put this on me. I’m not the one who strayed.”

“I’m not accusing you of that. I’m just asking where you were.”

Her smile doesn’t fade at all, and that alarms me.

“I woke up and took a shower, and then I decided I wanted more sleep. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was home, in our bed, where I should have been. But I can promise you something, West. If another man’s cock had been in my mouth that morning, I wouldn’t have put my lips anywhere near yours. I would have had the decency to at least wash my face and brush my teeth first. Just because I swallow doesn’t mean I have to share the leftovers with you.”

I deserved that. Every word of it.

It isn’t who I am, and I fucked up.

“It was wrong. I’m sorry, Tilly. We’ve always had the kind of relationship where, if we wanted something, we could be honest with each other. I didn’t do that, and I should have.”

She shrugs again. “It wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Somehow, I have to make this better. Maybe by giving her what she asked for, I’ll seem like less of an asshole.

“I talked to Lloyd this morning, and he’s going to have the papers drawn up for us to buy your parents’ business. He’ll offer a fair price, and he’ll transfer the funds once everything is signed.”

She sits taller in her chair, her eyes now full of excitement. “Did he say how long it would take?”

I shake my head. “As long as they agree to the price, I’m sure it can happen pretty quickly.”

“Does that mean you’re going to have a say in the way I run it?”

“I want nothing to do with the business. I’m buying it for you, Tilly. You can run it any way you want. It’s yours.”

“All mine?”

I lean my arms on the table, crossing my hands. “Yes. All yours.” Her eyes tell me she doesn’t believe me, but I don’t bother repeating myself. It won’t help.

“I’m sure that’s not the only thing you spoke to Lloyd about.”

I glance down at my fingers. This is harder than I thought it would be. I care about her, and I don’t want to hurt her. I just don’t love her as hard as I should. “I told him I wanted to speak to you first.”

“She’s really who you want?”

I finally look up, meeting a face that’s full of disgust. “This isn’t about Piper.”

“What does she do for you? I mean, I know what my body is capable of and how pleased I’ve kept you all these years. But she’s married to a man who likes cock, and she didn’t even know it. And that’s who you want to be with?”

“I told you, she has nothing to do with this,” I repeat, trying to keep my tone down because yelling won’t get us anywhere. “I’m not leaving you for her. I’m just leaving you.”

She stands and walks over to the sink, keeping her back to me. When she turns around a few minutes later, I can tell there are so many things she wants to say.

But the only thing that comes from her lips is, “I’ll sign whatever you need me to. It’s all spelled out in our prenup anyway, so it’s not like I can ask for more.” Then, she goes into our bedroom and closes the door.

I switch out the water for a beer, knowing it’s a little early to start drinking but not giving a fuck, and I go out onto the deck.

Something is up with my wife. She acted way too relaxed about this whole thing.

But, right now, the only thing I’m truly worried about is Piper.