I clench my fists—I want to pound them against his chest until he’s bruised and bleeding. “No, I saw it. You kissed her.”
“You weren’t there. You don’t know what happened.”
“I saw it!”
A vein pulses in my temple. It feels like there’s a very real possibility that it will burst and kill me before we complete this conversation. Before my husband admits to me that he did the thing I watched him do. Part of me wishes it would happen.
But another part of me wants him to suffer.
“Did you tell Higgins?” Nate finally says.
“Not yet.”
“Have you told anyone else?”
“No.” I did tell Jay, but I’m not going to mention that to my husband.
“I see.” He frowns, his entire forehead crumbling. “Will you?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I rest back against the arm of the sofa, because my legs feel wobbly. “I haven’t decided.”
“Is there…” He takes a step toward me, one arm partially outstretched. “Is there anything I can do to convince you not to?”
I look down at his arm like he’s offering me poison. “If you touch me ever again, I am going to scratch your eyes out.”
“Right, sorry.” He steps back again. “Okay, fine. So let’s talk about this. What do you want from me?”
“I want a divorce.”
He doesn’t even hesitate. “Done.”
Wow, that was a blow. As much as I want him gone and out of my life, somehow I thought or maybe even hoped he might fight for our marriage a little more.
“Also,” I say, “the house is mine.”
“But this house—”
“The house is mine.”
Nate grits his teeth. “Fine. Take the house.”
“Also,” I add, “you need to end your relationship with Addie immediately. Like, tonight or tomorrow. You need to let her down easy, but make it very clear that you will never see her again. It needs to happen now. Don’t wait for school on Monday.”
He had to see that one coming. “Fine,” he says. “Is that all?”
I have one final demand that I came up with after talking to Jay. This is going to be the hardest one for him, but it’s not negotiable.
“You need to resign from Caseham High,” I say. “You can’t ever work as a teacher for children again.”
Nate sucks in a breath. “What? You can’t be serious. This is my livelihood, Eve.”
“You can still teach. You can teach adult education. But no children. Never again.”
“Eve, come on,” he chokes out. “I can’t possibly agree to that. All the other stuff—fine. But I’m not going to give up teaching high school.”
“Fine. Then we can go to the principal and let her decide.”
Nate pushes past me and walks over to the sofa, where he sinks into the cushions. He leans forward and presses his fingertips into his temples. “Please don’t do this. Be reasonable. You have to be reasonable.”
“This is as reasonable as it gets. Really, you ought to be in jail.”
“She’s sixteen. That’s an adult in Massachusetts.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s how you think of her. Like an adult.” I shake my head in disgust. “You need to decide. If you don’t resign, I am going to go to the principal about it.”
He lifts his face to stare up at me. “And you’re sure she would believe you?”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
He rises from the sofa and lets out a snort. “Everyone at the school knows you’re a complete mess, Eve. You’re not exactly trustworthy.”
“Excuse me? What does that mean?”
“For starters, you’re drunk at six in the evening.” He ticks it off on his fingers. “Also, you hoard shoes. It’s really nuts. If anyone got a look at our closet, they would lock you up.”
My face burns. He’s decided to play dirty, as it turns out. I shouldn’t have expected less. “I only have, like, a dozen pairs in my closet. Plenty of women have that many shoes.”
“Um, you think I don’t know about all the shoes you keep in that giant luggage?”
I did not think he knew about those shoes. But it makes sense he would. I imagine he was in the closet one day, looking for a suitcase for a trip, and he discovered my stash. The thought of him knowing my secret makes me burn with humiliation, but it doesn’t change anything.