Page 111 of How We End

Im out of town how about 2

Dana:

That will work

CHAPTERFIFTY-TWO

WYATT

February 22

Our three weeks went by so fast.Julian was putting the last bag in the trunk, and I was locking up the apartment.For three weeks, the outside world hadn’t been able to touch us.No hockey, no life back in Las Vegas.Silver Creek felt a million miles away from Las Vegas.Maybe that was why younger me bought this place.I knew someday I would want out.

“Ready?”Julian closed the trunk.

I looked one last time at the parking lot.Patches of the tar were starting to show through.I felt simpler here, less encumbered by my past.“No, but that doesn’t matter,” I said, opening the passenger door.My life had crept back in this morning when Margo had texted to say my termination papers were ready to sign.Then Dana wanted to talk.Julian’s agent and lawyer had left message after message.All things we now had to deal with.

“We could stay,” Julian said over the roof of the car.

“A bit of a commute for you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”I could see the stress slowly make its way back to his shoulders and neck.The muscles in his jaw tighten.In four days, Julian would be back on the world stage for everyone to judge and decide his value.That worried me.But I also knew he needed it.He’d been restless here.

“We should go before traffic gets bad,” I said, ducking into the car.Julian did the same, and we both looked one last time at our soft place.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”I asked, putting on my seat belt.

“For giving me a few moments to breathe.”And with that, we left the quiet peacefulness of Silver Creek for the bright chaos of Las Vegas.

* * *

I stepped into the suite.There were fresh flowers on the side table, which was new.There was something else.Something I couldn’t put my finger on.

“Dana?”I called.There was a box with my name on it sitting by the door.Inside was an open box of condoms.Weird.My overnight bag, a bottle of tequila, a couple of thongs, and a bra.All stuff that could have been thrown away.What wasn’t in there were the Saint Laurent dress and heels, or the other designer clothing Maverick had given me in case he needed me on the floor.

“I was worried you wouldn’t come.”Dana stepped out from the kitchen.

“Is everything okay?”

She looked thinner and older.But she was still Dana Sands.The wife of a very wealthy casino owner.Her brown hair was pulled back in a sleek bun.Her makeup flawless.Her cream pants pressed and not a single wrinkle in her black silk shirt.She was what people expected Maverick Sands’s wife to look like.And I was what his mistress should look like.

“I’m fine.Can we talk?”She motioned to the couch.

“Okay.”I followed Dana into the living area.I still felt like a child playing dress-up around her.It was her fashion I had tried to copy the first few months I was here.But clients didn’t want their whore dressing like their wife.

“Maverick won’t tell me, and I don’t trust that woman that follows him around.Are you still sleeping with him?”

“Wow, okay.”I sat down.That was Dana.She didn’t beat around when it came to Maverick.She set the rules for Maverick’s and my relationship.No overnights unless she was out of town.No public displays of affection.And no pregnancies.“No, not since Thanksgiving.”

“Damn it.”She pressed a thin hand to her mouth.“I think he’s fucking around on me.”

“Dana, he and I weren’t playing board games when we were together.”

“Oh, I know.”She waved off my words.“But we had a deal, Maverick and I.He got you if he promised that was it.”She stood and walked over to the bar.She poured a shot of clear liquid, swirling it around the glass.“He never could keep it in his pants.I knew that before we got married.My father loved him.Said he was going places.And that I could do no better.He cheated on me the night before our engagement party.Some stripper.I wanted to call it off then.My mother said men were born to cheat and women were born to turn a blind eye.She would know.”Dana scoffed before swallowing down the shot.“She said I’d grow to love him.”

“Did you?”