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Authors: Kristen Ashley
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time and wondered if there was an emergency. He didn’t know if the first call was from this Beau guy but Mike hadn’t been awake for even ten minutes and, if it was, he’d called three times in that time.
“Fuck,” he muttered, tagged the phone, slid his finger on the screen and put it to his ear. “Hello,” he greeted.
Silence.
“Anyone there?” he asked when this silence stretched.
“Who’s this?” a man’s voice asked back and he sounded ticked.
Fuck.
“You called, man, who’re you?” Mike returned.
“Who I am is the owner of this phone’s man, man, ” Beau shot back, definitely ticked. So ticked, he’d gone straight to belligerent.
But Mike was frozen.
“Yo! What the fuck?” Beau asked. “Is Dusty there?”
“No,” Mike forced from between his teeth.
“Where is she at six twenty in the fuckin’ morning?” he demanded to know.
Mike didn’t like his tone and he just simply didn’t like the fact he was talking to Dusty’s man, a man she told him she didn’t have, so he didn’t bother to answer.
Beau didn’t care that Mike didn’t answer.
“Right, you wanna tell me why it’s twenty after six in the fuckin’ mornin’ and you’re answerin’ my woman’s phone?” Beau kept up his interrogation.
“No,” Mike ground out.
“Fuck me,” the man clipped.
“You got a message or did you call just to swear?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, I got a message, man. Tell my woman to call me. Immediately . You got that?”
“Got it,” Mike replied shortly.
Then he got dead air.
He stared at the phone. Then he tossed it to the nightstand instead of hurling it across the room.
Since Audrey, he’d played the field and, taking care around his kids, he’d done this pretty extensively. This was partly due to the fact that Mike was a man. And it was partly due to the fact that the last seven months of his marriage their sex life was non-existent. This was because Mike found he couldn’t stomach fucking a woman who lied to him daily, handed him shit frequently and still had no problem spending his money, as well as money he hadn’t yet earned, freely. It was the last of many times when Audrey turned to him and he felt the nausea roil that he knew he was done. And it was when he set her off him that he told her that, straight out. She had then flown into a rage, screaming and swearing and he knew their kids could hear but, as always with Audrey, he had no choice. No matter how often he told her to shut the fuck up or keep her voice down, she ignored him or got louder and her language got fouler.
At the time, watching her red-faced and infuriated at learning she was bearing the consequences of her own behavior, it became crystal clear Mike’s decision to divorce her ass was the right one.
He’d spent years doing everything he could to sort their shit. At first, young, stupid and in love with her, he’d knocked himself out to get her everything she wanted. But even when he laid it at her feet, she just wanted more. Then he’d done everything he could think to do to find out what drove her to these needs so he could guide her to understanding them and she could work through them. This didn’t work either. No matter how many talks they had, or, in the end, fights, her behavior didn’t change. Often, she promised it would, swore she’d “do better” and she might, for a week, a month. But then she’d lapse right back into it. At the start, she didn’t hide her spending. In the end, she did. How the fuck she thought he wouldn’t figure it out since he paid their bills, they had a joint account and she didn’t work, he had no clue. She just didn’t.
The pressure built. For his part, it built along with his frustration at being in debt and having a wife who lied to him consistently. For Audrey’s part, even though she never admitted it, it had to do with feelings of guilt that mingled with anger at herself that she couldn’t control her addiction.
And since she couldn’t, he
“Fuck,” he muttered, tagged the phone, slid his finger on the screen and put it to his ear. “Hello,” he greeted.
Silence.
“Anyone there?” he asked when this silence stretched.
“Who’s this?” a man’s voice asked back and he sounded ticked.
Fuck.
“You called, man, who’re you?” Mike returned.
“Who I am is the owner of this phone’s man, man, ” Beau shot back, definitely ticked. So ticked, he’d gone straight to belligerent.
But Mike was frozen.
“Yo! What the fuck?” Beau asked. “Is Dusty there?”
“No,” Mike forced from between his teeth.
“Where is she at six twenty in the fuckin’ morning?” he demanded to know.
Mike didn’t like his tone and he just simply didn’t like the fact he was talking to Dusty’s man, a man she told him she didn’t have, so he didn’t bother to answer.
Beau didn’t care that Mike didn’t answer.
“Right, you wanna tell me why it’s twenty after six in the fuckin’ mornin’ and you’re answerin’ my woman’s phone?” Beau kept up his interrogation.
“No,” Mike ground out.
“Fuck me,” the man clipped.
“You got a message or did you call just to swear?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, I got a message, man. Tell my woman to call me. Immediately . You got that?”
“Got it,” Mike replied shortly.
Then he got dead air.
He stared at the phone. Then he tossed it to the nightstand instead of hurling it across the room.
Since Audrey, he’d played the field and, taking care around his kids, he’d done this pretty extensively. This was partly due to the fact that Mike was a man. And it was partly due to the fact that the last seven months of his marriage their sex life was non-existent. This was because Mike found he couldn’t stomach fucking a woman who lied to him daily, handed him shit frequently and still had no problem spending his money, as well as money he hadn’t yet earned, freely. It was the last of many times when Audrey turned to him and he felt the nausea roil that he knew he was done. And it was when he set her off him that he told her that, straight out. She had then flown into a rage, screaming and swearing and he knew their kids could hear but, as always with Audrey, he had no choice. No matter how often he told her to shut the fuck up or keep her voice down, she ignored him or got louder and her language got fouler.
At the time, watching her red-faced and infuriated at learning she was bearing the consequences of her own behavior, it became crystal clear Mike’s decision to divorce her ass was the right one.
He’d spent years doing everything he could to sort their shit. At first, young, stupid and in love with her, he’d knocked himself out to get her everything she wanted. But even when he laid it at her feet, she just wanted more. Then he’d done everything he could think to do to find out what drove her to these needs so he could guide her to understanding them and she could work through them. This didn’t work either. No matter how many talks they had, or, in the end, fights, her behavior didn’t change. Often, she promised it would, swore she’d “do better” and she might, for a week, a month. But then she’d lapse right back into it. At the start, she didn’t hide her spending. In the end, she did. How the fuck she thought he wouldn’t figure it out since he paid their bills, they had a joint account and she didn’t work, he had no clue. She just didn’t.
The pressure built. For his part, it built along with his frustration at being in debt and having a wife who lied to him consistently. For Audrey’s part, even though she never admitted it, it had to do with feelings of guilt that mingled with anger at herself that she couldn’t control her addiction.
And since she couldn’t, he
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