Page 57 of The Wife

The words were suddenly there in my head. His breath in my ear. The way he made my body feel. I might have been drugged, but obviously I hadn’t forgotten anything about last night. I could feel my cheeks flame.

He looked concerned. Not aroused. Sure. Because he hadn’t wanted to do that to me. Not really.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Like I’ve swallowed everyone else’s sadness.”

He huffed. “It’s the…”

“Drug. I figured.”

“More water,” he grunted.

I did as he suggested, because if water would fix this I would gladly drink a gallon of it. Then I got my cup of coffee and sat down across from him.

He was looking at me again, only this time I could see it in his expression. We’d moved on from the physical impact of the drug to something else.

“So… awkward much?”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “Is it?”

I glanced up at him. He was still just Jake. My Jake. That hadn’t changed.

“Maybe not as bad I thought.”

“Good. You’re… okay then with… what happened?”

I nodded.

“You don’t think I took advantage…”

“No,” I stopped him. “If anything I’m the one who… you know, who took advantage.”

“You didn’t,” he said tightly. “We both know what it was about. We can leave it at that.”

“Right. Let’s blame the drug,” I offered.

He seemed to like that idea because his eyes got wider. “Yes. It was… the drug.”

I nodded, then bit my lip, remembering all the stuff I’d said to him.

“Sorry for all the begging and pleading.”

He actually managed a tight chuckle. “Trust me. Guys like the begging and the pleading… at least in bed.”

“Uh… thank you for the… you know. It was good.”

His mouth got tight, but he said nothing in response to that.

“I understand… better now,” I continued. “Why you wanted to keep things platonic. It’s super intimate. Us splitting up is going to be hard enough. For both of us, I think.”

He didn’t say anything to that either.

“Anyway. Thanks again. For the Bobby thing, too. You’re always saving me.”

Another grunt.

Then it occurred to me. “Wait? Why were you there? It felt like I called your name and you just popped out of the door like my own version of Superman.”