Page 15 of Duress (Birch Falls #3)

EVERLY

Bryce

Don’t wait on me for dinner. I’m meeting up with Skip. Be home late.

I stare at the text Bryce sent me just after six, when I had already started cooking dinner.

Of course he couldn’t give me more of a heads up that he wouldn’t be home.

I don’t even know why I bother trying to have it ready for him at a reasonable hour.

The days of us having a nice meal together when he got home from work, then cuddling on the couch watching a movie are long gone.

Sometimes I find myself longing for the days when we still lived in a small two-bedroom apartment when he was just getting started with his law career.

My schedule was always more flexible, so I would finish up with my clients and get home early enough to make dinner.

Bryce worked so hard, usually leaving the house by 7:00 a.m. and not getting home until seven at night.

I’d have dinner ready for him, ask him how his day was, listen to him vent about his clients, and after we would just spend the evening unwinding together.

Things were simple then. We were enough for each other.

Then he started making a name for himself, getting bigger and bigger clients to defend.

Other lawyers, local politicians or their family members.

This connected him with more influential people, and he started dabbling in politics.

Now his entire purpose in life is to rise higher and higher on some imaginary ladder until…

Who knows? I have no idea what his end game is. I feel like I barely know him anymore.

The smell of burning food brings my focus back to the pan in front of me and I realize I’ve cooked off almost all the sauce in my stir-fry.

Disgusted by the charred mess in front of me and Bryce’s complete lack of respect for my time, I pitch the food in the trash, vowing this is the last time I play the happy housewife making dinner for her husband like it’s her entire purpose in life.

I’m getting ready to pour myself a glass of wine and settle in with my comfort show, Schitt’s Creek , when my phone chimes with another incoming text.

Glancing down, I see it’s from Serena. Dane gave her my number, and we’ve been texting back and forth.

She wants me to meet up with the program director at Whispering Pines, the assisted living/retirement village where her mom lives.

She thinks my art therapy would be beneficial to many of the residents there.

I’ve been putting off following up on it because Bryce doesn’t like the idea of me working, but maybe it’s time for me to start living for myself again.

Serena

Game night! Will we be seeing you? Kai is making tacos!

I’m on the verge of responding that I won’t be able to make it when I stop myself.

Why shouldn’t I go to game night? Bryce won’t be home.

I’ll just be sitting here alone, bored and annoyed at my husband.

Or I could hang out with some new friends…

and Dane will probably be there. I haven’t seen him since Bryce unexpectedly invited him over for dinner on Sunday after fucking me so roughly he left fingerprint bruises on my hips and thighs.

The look on Dane’s face after watching Bryce kiss me flashes through my mind.

It is a look I’ll never forget. He was staring at his brother like he could set fire to him with the power of his mind.

Then the way his eyes softened when he looked at me…

It took all of my willpower not to let him make a scene in front of Bryce.

All I wanted was to let him gather me in his arms and hold me.

Let him give me the tenderness that Bryce seems incapable of now.

Sure, Bryce’s interest in me sexually has increased lately, but now it feels even more like I am just his possession. His plaything.

I miss feeling cherished.

Everly

I’ll be there. See you soon.

“Giraffes doing the limbo!” I jump up and yell the answer as loud as I can, accidentally knocking Dane off the edge where he was sitting.

“Woah, Ever! This isn’t full contact!” Dane exclaims incredulously from the floor.

Kai is at the drawing board armed only with a black Sharpie and his subpar drawing skills. He throws the marker behind him and runs over to pick me up. He spins us around in celebratory living room donuts.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about. Everly, you’re my new forever game night partner!” Kai crows victoriously.

Serena comes up behind her husband and smacks him in the head.

“Hey! It’s not my fault Ever and I are connected on a level you and I aren’t!”

Serena and I bust out laughing at the same time, both giddy from the margaritas Kai’s parents brought over.

When I arrived two hours prior, I was equal parts pissed off and hurt by my husband’s thoughtlessness.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to have fun with my new friends.

As it turns out, margaritas, tacos, and a weird, fucked up version of Pictionary is the perfect remedy.

The Reynolds welcomed me into their home with a plate of tacos and a margarita, and my mood immediately lifted.

It was the first time in…too long that someone seemed genuinely excited to see me.

It felt real . Serena somehow managed to sense my foul mood before it completely slipped away, and she met me margarita for margarita as I tried to drown my acrimonious mood.

“Alright, pretty ladies. Time to hydrate.” Dane swoops in between me and Serena, double fisting two glasses of ice water.

He deftly wraps one arm around my shoulders and presents one of the water glasses to me, while handing Serena the other.

He gazes down at me, his eyes dancing with mirth and a half grin tilting up his lips.

Serena and I must be out of pocket if he’s decided to start playing water daddy— Daddy?

I nearly choke on the sip of water in my mouth when that thought hits me.

“Woah there, tiger. Don’t choke on me.” Dane turns his body toward mine, pulling me into a hug.

He rubs my back as I try not to die after nearly inhaling the liquid.

His innocent double entendre does nothing to help me control my hysterical wheezing.

Oh my god, how much tequila was in those margaritas?

When I finally have control over my faculties again, my face is red and my cheeks wet with tears from laughter.

I know I must look like a hot mess, but I am having so much fun I don’t even care.

It’s been so long since I’ve laughed like this.

All the people Bryce surrounds us with are stuffy, pretentious, opportunistic leeches.

I haven’t had a carefree night like this since college.

“Alright, you two are on water for the rest of the night. You’ll thank me tomorrow.” Dane steers me over to the couch to sit down. I plop down next to Laura, Serena’s mom.

She grasps my hand excitedly when she asks, “Oh, Everly! Did you get a chance to talk to Serena about coming by to talk to Bethany about the art therapy program?”

“Yes! I’m going to call her tomorrow to set up an interview.

” I answer without even thinking. I hadn’t actually made that decision before this moment, but it feels right when I say it out loud.

I do want to start living for myself. I do want to make my own friends.

Have my own purpose. I may be stuck in a miserable marriage, but that doesn’t mean I have to make my whole life miserable.

An hour later, we say goodbye to the Reynolds clan.

Dane insists on driving me home in my car again.

I’ve only been drinking water for the last hour, so I’ve begun to sober up but not nearly enough to drive.

I also don’t want to stop spending time with him.

Seeing Dane in his element with his people has shown me an entirely new side of him.

He’s no longer the surly young man who lost his dad entirely too soon and had a brother who resented him his entire life.

His sharp edges melt away, and his smiles come so easily.

I rarely, if ever, saw happy, carefree Dane during my early relationship with his brother.

The only times I saw the softer, less bitter side of him was when I had my weekly therapy appointment with his mom.

He still lived at home with her while he was in the academy.

Bryce was never there for those because he was busy working.

So it was just me, Dane, and Caroline. He was usually making dinner and would always offer me some.

I took him up on his offer a few times and learned he was a surprisingly decent chef.

“You know what I miss?” We’re in the car, only minutes away from my house. I turn my head to the side to take in his handsome profile as it comes in and out of view under the streetlights.

“What do you miss, Ever?” Dane cuts me a quick sideways glance, flashing me a smile.

“I miss brinner. Remember when you would make pancakes and eggs and bacon for dinner for you and your mom?”

“Yeah? I still do that. You don’t eat brinner?” Dane laughs like I’m being silly but stops when he sees me shake my head.

“No. Bryce doesn’t like it. He thinks it’s not a good enough meal for dinner.

Sometimes a girl just wants to eat some chocolate chip pancakes.

” Why am I getting up in my feelings right now about breakfast for dinner?

The hurt and anger from earlier in the evening comes rushing back as we pull into my driveway.

Bryce’s car isn’t here. Glancing at the clock on the dash, I see that it reads 10:42.

My teeth clench, causing my jaw to tense. Dane must notice my shift in mood.

“He’s not home, is he.” It’s not a question. Just a declaration of fact.

“No. Doesn’t look like he is.” I press my lips into a thin line, my mind at war over which emotion should be steering the ship right now. Anger? Hurt? Resentment? Or relief? Relief that I finally decided to stop waiting and that I made the right choice .

Dane gently cups my chin and directs my attention to him. “Talk to me, Ever. Tell me where your mind is right now.” His eyes stare into me with such a solemn openness. Like he wants me to pour whatever is bothering me into him, so he can carry it for me. Has Bryce ever looked at me like that?

“I’m thinking I’m glad I came out tonight.

” Before he says anything, I hit the release button on my seatbelt and lunge toward him, capturing his lips with my own.

He tastes vaguely minty, like maybe he freshened up recently.

His lips immediately part, his tongue darting out, licking my own, seeking entry.

I open for him, letting our tongues dance together as I slowly make my way over the center console and onto his lap.

His hands hover over my body momentarily, like he’s unsure of what to do, but when I grind my center down on him, he gets the idea, wrapping one hand around my waist and fisting my hair with the other.

His kiss is all-consuming. He doesn’t kiss me like he’s possessive or like he owns me. He kisses me like I am his very essence of being. He kisses me like he’s a man dying of thirst, and I am the water essential to his survival. It feels amazing.

I am on the verge of losing myself completely to his intoxicating kisses when the flash of headlights illuminates the interior of the car. I pull away, and almost hit my head on the roof.

“Woah, Ever. Careful.” Dane reaches up to put his hand between my head and the ceiling. The headlights are gone. It was just a car driving past. I collapse into Dane, suddenly overwhelmed with the reality of what I was doing. Am doing. And with whom. Fuck, I can’t do this.

“Oh god, I can’t do this. I can’t do this to you.” I shift to move off his lap, but his hands clamp me in place.

“Ever. Please. Don’t run again.”

“Dane, you don’t understand. I can’t do this with you.” Again, I move to climb off; Dane tightens his hold more.

“Explain it to me then.” He looks at me with so much earnestness that I almost cave and try to bury myself in him. He wants to know what’s wrong. “Explain to me why you’re so loyal to an asshole who doesn’t even appreciate how amazing his wife is. You deserve so much more than what he gives you.”

“Bryce takes care of?—”

“More than what he gives you emotionally, Ev. More than scraps of his attention. More than countless late nights alone. More than using you for your appearance because you make him look good. You deserve someone who cares.”

Dane’s words hit me like a knife to the heart. He’s not wrong. I do deserve more than what I get from Bryce. But Dane can’t be the one who gives it to me.