Page 3 of Open Secrets (Infidelity #5)

Lyle — Present

I slam the drawer, the wood rattling in its frame, and shove shirts into my bag without folding, without order—just in.

Fucking Markus.

Just because his life is circling the drain, he had to drag mine down with it. Couldn’t keep his mouth shut, couldn’t keep his misery to himself—had to lob a grenade into my marriage. He ripped the bandage off and left Maria and me bleeding in the open. Bastard deserved to get punched.

Dropping onto the bed, I rub my hands over my face, dragging them down until my jaw aches. Yesterday I was fine pretending everything was under control—the same way I do in uniform. Keep your head up, wear the mask, keep moving. But then I laid Markus out, and suddenly Maria wanted to talk.

The last time she said that, she ended us.

God. With a start like ours, nobody thought we’d make it this far.

Hell, even I didn’t. She got us lost on our first date.

We hiked half the night, scratched to hell, and were in the middle of a pretty serious make out session when her dad found us.

All the goodwill I’d earned with my kickass shooting skills went out the window when he found me with my hand up his daughter’s shirt.

He was so furious, threatened me to stay away which, well kind of made Maria like me more. And my mom? She was worse. Told me flat-out I couldn’t see Maria again. Like telling a sixteen-year-old boy no was ever going to stop him. It only made me want her more.

Even when she drove me crazy. Even when she swore we weren’t lost while we were standing in the middle of a goddamn forest with no idea which way was north. I followed her anyway.

I think that was the moment I fell in love with her. Christ, I loved her so much it hurt to breathe. The day before graduation, I even bought a ring. Cheap. All I could afford. But it was real. And it was hers.

Then— Then I got to her house.

Twenty-Five Years Ago – Gatesville, Texas. 2000.

I sat in my car, engine knocking like it was coughing its last breath, and forced myself to stay calm. Teddy had conned me when he sold me this heap — my first car, and it already felt one turn away from dying.

Today was Graduation had. Caps were tossed in the air, parents cried, everyone pretended the world was about to change.

Maybe it was. People were still laughing about Y2K — how just months ago they swore everything would collapse at midnight.

Families had hoarded basements full of canned beans and bottled water, and now they were selling it off at yard sales, marked down or given away.

Maria hadn’t cared about it then, and she didn’t care now. What she cared about was tonight. She said she wanted to talk before the afterparty at Conner’s. I had something to say too.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small velvet box. My hand shook. The ring wasn’t much — cheap, plain — but it was real. And it was hers.

Yes, we were too young. But I loved her so much I could barely breathe, and I knew I wanted the rest of my life with her.

My mom would lose her mind if she found out. She already thought Maria was trouble, that I should keep my head down and focus on the Army. But she didn’t understand — Maria wasn’t just some girl. She was it.

In a week, I was shipping out to boot camp. Maria was heading to Austen University. Two different roads. But maybe, if I was lucky, they would run side by side.

I shoved the box back inside my pocket, gripped the wheel, and finally opened the door before I lost my nerve.

The second I stepped out, Maria’s front door creaked and she stepped outside.

She wasn’t dressed for a party. No sundress, no makeup, no shine. Just old shorts, a worn T-shirt, and hair pulled back like she couldn’t be bothered.

“Hey,” I said, forcing a smile. “You feeling okay?”

Her eyes were red, swollen. She sniffed, arms wrapping tight around herself as she came closer.

“Listen, Lyle,” she started, voice unsteady. “I’ve been thinking.”

My stomach sank.

“I’m about to leave for Austin, and you’re leaving too. And I just…” She swallowed, eyes wet in the porch light. “I don’t want us to be one of those couples who hold on too long, only to end up hating each other.”

The ring box in my pocket dragged me under like a stone.

“What I’m saying is… I think it would hurt less if we ended it now. As friends.”

Her voice broke as she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t answer. I stood there, frozen, replaying the speech I had rehearsed. The photos I had printed at the drugstore — they had cost me a week’s pay check. How I was going to tell her she was it for me, forever.

Instead, I turned, walked back to my car, and left her crying on the curb.

I didn’t remember the drive. Just the ache in my chest and the weight in my pocket. Somehow, I ended up at Conner’s, music blasting, people yelling like freedom was something you could drink.

I went straight to the liquor, grabbed whatever was closest, and drank until my throat burned.

Bellamy dropped onto the couch beside me, red cup sloshing over her shirt. She didn’t even flinch.

“Where’s Maria?” she asked.

“She dumped me.”

Her eyes widened. “Why?”

I shrugged.

“Sorry,” she said softly.

I nodded, swallowing hard. “I was gonna propose.”

Her mouth fell open, but she stayed quiet.

“I had pictures printed,” I added, flat. “I was gonna give them to her, tell her the only thing I wanted saved when the world ended was us. That I wanted to spend my life with her, however long it lasted.”

Bellamy breathed out. “Wow. Did you tell her?”

I shook my head. “No. The love of my life dumped me and I walked away. Didn’t even… say anything.” My voice dropped to a whisper.

“Come on,” she said gently. “I’ll drive you.”

I glanced at her cup. “That’s full.”

She smirked, tipping it. “There’s a reason it’s still full.”

I hesitated. “You sure you wanna leave?”

Her eyes flicked to Conner across the room, tongue buried in someone else’s throat. “Positive.”

We headed to my car, but she snatched the keys before I could stop her. She twisted them, and the engine sputtered, coughing up black smoke.

Bellamy shot me a panicked look.

“You gotta shift gears first,” I muttered, waving her off as I stepped out. “It’s fine. I’ll walk.”

She stared at me like I’d lost it. “She lives miles away!”

I smirked, tossing the words over my shoulder. “I’ve got experience walking these woods.”

And before Bellamy could argue, I slipped into the tree line.

The night air was thick, damp against my skin, the woods stretching ahead like a dare.

It wasn’t cool, no matter how I tried to play it.

The first branch whipped across my face, stinging sharp, and I cursed under my breath, swiping at the welt.

The second snagged my shirt, tearing the fabric with a sound that made me wince.

“Smooth,” I muttered, shoving forward.

Leaves crunched underfoot, twigs snapped like bones, and the shadows unnerved me. But I kept moving anyway, drunk determination guiding me where sense should have stepped in.

She had dumped me. Yeah. She had said the words, tears streaming, voice breaking. But she was drunk on fear, that was all. Scared of leaving, scared of me leaving. She hadn’t meant it.

“Long-distance works,” I said into the dark, like the trees needed convincing. “My parents did it. I can do it. She’ll visit. I’ll visit when I can. I told her I was gonna marry her, and it’s happening.”

A low branch knocked me square in the shoulder, hard enough to spin me sideways. I stumbled, caught myself against rough bark, and laughed a little too loud.

“She’s not gonna stop me,” I mumbled, pushing forward. “No way.”

The woods stretched on forever, every turn looking the same, but my chest felt lighter with each step. This was it. This was the fight. Maria thought she could end it with a speech and a shrug, but she didn’t know me. I wasn’t giving up on her. Not now, not ever.

The ground dipped, and I went with it, sliding down a slope until my knees slammed the dirt at the bottom. Pain ricocheted through my shins. I bit it back, shoving myself upright.

“Goddamn woods,” I hissed, wiping blood off my palms. “Don’t want me here? Too bad. I’m coming anyway.”

It felt like hours, the dark pressing in on every side, the silence broken only by my curses and the crack of branches against my body.

Sweat clung to me, mixing with blood, with booze, with nerves.

By the time I finally pushed through the last line of trees, I was breathing hard, half-sober, and bleeding in more places than I could count.

Maria’s street unfurled in front of me, houses quiet in the still night.

Branches hung off me like claws. My shirt was torn, my arms a mess of scratches, one eye stinging from where a twig had smacked me straight on. For some reason, it felt personal, like the whole damn forest had a vendetta against me.

But I had made it.

I dragged a breath into my lungs and grinned, crooked and wild. “Told you I’d make it,” I muttered, even though there was no one around to hear me.

“Maria!” I called.

Then I remembered her parents and whispered, urgent. “Maria.”

A window creaked. She squinted down at me, hair tangled, face softened by sleep.

“Lyle?”

I looked up, drunk courage pushing words out of me. “I have come to fight for your hand.”

Her mouth twisted. “Are you drunk?”

I shook my head — tripped over air. “...Little bit. Come down,” I whispered, remembering again.

She sighed. “My parents aren’t here.”

Relief flooded me. “Well then—” I started too loud.

“Shhh!” She cut me off. “I still have neighbours. Just come to the front door.”

When the door opened, I wasn’t standing. I was kneeling, box open in my hands, cheap metal glinting under the porch light.

“Maria,” I said, voice trembling, “I’ve loved you since you got me lost in the woods. I loved you when you kneed me in the groin while fooling around and that shit hurt. I even loved you even when you dumped me. Will you marry me?”

Her face shifted, fear and grief tangling together. “Lyle…”

I rushed on. “I have photos too. I just—I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

She stepped forward, closing her hands over mine, over the box. “Come inside.”

I followed blindly, the world narrowing to her. She shut the door, pressed her back to it, and nudged me down onto the bottom step.

“Where did you get this ring?”

“I bought it weeks ago,” I answered quickly, defensive.

Her breath shuddered out. “We’re eighteen, Lyle. Do you really think we’re ready for marriage?”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said.

Her voice cracked. “How? I’ll be in Austin. You’ll be… everywhere. You know me. Do you really think I can be like your mom? Drop everything to follow you around the world?”

“Why not? My mom got to travel the world.”

Maria shook her head, tears glinting. “Your mom reads our texts, Lyle. She’s obsessed with her kids’ lives. I don’t want that.”

The words hit deep, bitter, and I snapped before I could stop myself. “At least she didn’t walk out.”

Her face went pale. My gut twisted. I got up and reached for her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. But you’re not even giving us a shot.”

She pulled back, her voice steady in the way that scared me most. “You’re right. My mom walked out because she didn’t want this small-town life. And I don’t want an Army-wife life. I won’t repeat her mistakes.”

I took a step back, my throat burning. “That’s it then? We’re just done?”

She shrugged, silent, and that shrug hurt worse than any punch.

I dragged my tongue across my teeth, fighting tears, then grabbed her hand again. With my other, I lifted the ring. “Well, I bought this for you,” I whispered, pressing it into her palm.

Her breath hitched. “I can’t.”

“Keep it as a memento,” I said, already stepping back.

“I love you,” I added, voice breaking, and before she could answer — before I unravelled completely — I opened the door and walked out.

The night swallowed me whole.