While the clerk is busy, I pull the shoes out of my purse and slip them back into place. I can’t believe I almost did that. I almost screwed up my entire life over a pair of shoes. How could I have done something so risky?
It takes all my focus to drive home without getting killed. My whole body feels like it’s buzzing, and not in a good way. I should never have attempted something so stupid. Just goes to show that I haven’t changed at all over the years. Sometimes I try to kid myself that I’m an adult now, but how can I be an adult when I still feel fifteen half the time?
When I get home, I’m relieved to find Nate’s car is in the driveway. I don’t have to sit at home and wonder when he’ll be back for a change. And when I get inside the house, I smell tomato sauce wafting from the kitchen. He’s even gotten dinner started.
I hang my purse on the coat rack like I always do and wander into the kitchen. Nate is standing in front of the stove, the sleeves of his blue dress shirt rolled up as he stirs the contents of a pot on the stove. I imagine an alternate reality where I had to tell Nate I was arrested for shoplifting. Thank God I didn’t go through with it.
Nate notices my presence in the kitchen, and he looks up with a smile for me. He is so incredibly handsome when he smiles. Even after all this time, I still think so. Who wouldn’t?
“I got dinner started,” he tells me. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” I say. “I’m glad you did. You’re so thoughtful.” I smile back at him, although I recognize my own smile doesn’t have as much impact as his does. “I have the best husband ever.”
He laughs and turns his attention back to his pot of tomato sauce. “I’m pleased you think so.”
Something stirs inside me. Maybe it’s all the adrenaline from almost getting caught stealing those expensive shoes, but suddenly, I want Nate. I want him right now, even though it’s not the first Saturday of the month.
I come up behind my husband, sliding my arms around his firm chest. I lower my lips onto the back of his neck. “Nate…”
He laughs again. “Eve, what are you doing? I’m trying to cook us a feast here.”
“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” My hands move south, even as his body stiffens. “Maybe you can take a break from cooking dinner…”
Gently, he disentangles himself from my embrace. I get a distinct jab of déjà vu. “Darling, I’m starving. Let’s have dinner first, okay?”
“Okay.” I don’t attempt to wrap my arms around him again, but I stay close, my hand on his shoulder. “After dinner then?”
“Right after devouring a big plate of ziti? That hardly sounds sexy.”
Of course. Yet another excuse. I’m not even surprised at this point.
He leans in to kiss the tip of my nose. “Later tonight. I promise.”
“You promise?”
His laugh sounds hollow this time. “My God, you’re making it sound like I don’t want to make love to my own wife! It’s just been a long day, and I want to have some dinner and relax with a book, you know?”
And that will be his excuse later, when I reach for him tonight in bed. It’s been a long day and I’m tired. Tomorrow, okay, Eve? Perhaps there will even be a headache involved. There’s a point when it becomes humiliating to even ask, and he knows that. He’s counting on it.
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Chapter Ten
ADDIE
IN ALL MY years of taking gym in high school and middle school, I’ve worked up a sweat maybe five times.
The only time I get sweaty is when they make us do laps. But anytime we’re playing some sort of sport, I manage to avoid any type of major physical exertion. It’s my greatest skill. What can I say? I’m not much of an athlete.
Today we were playing volleyball, which is a great sport if you just want to sit around and not do much. Like, I’m sure if I were making any attempt whatsoever to connect with the ball, I’d get sweaty. But it’s pretty easy to stand in the corner and pretend you’re trying to hit the ball when you’re really not.
Unfortunately, our gym teacher, Mrs. Cavanaugh, makes us have a shower after gym, whether we got sweaty or not. And that, by far, is my least favorite part of gym.
If I looked like Kenzie Montgomery, who incidentally is in my gym class, I might not mind public showering. But unfortunately, I look like me, so my goal for post-gym showering is to get in and out as quickly as possible. If I could get in and out of the shower without having to get wet, that would be ideal.