Hudson smacked his hand on the table, and Steele smiled widely at me. “Really, man?” he asked. “Gah, f**king finally. I’m happy for you, Saco. What are you gonna do? You want to move back to Colorado? Maybe a change of pace will be good for you, will help you with the grieving to get away from everythi—”
“Oh, you should,” Hudson said, cutting him off. “We can help you look for a place to live there, and a job. Can you just transfer departments like that?”
Steele pointed at me. “Check into that.”
“Guys, I’m not leaving.”
“What? Dude, why not? I know your family is here, but this could be good for you.”
“Because I’m not leaving Olivia just to leave her, Steele. You think I would go through almost six years of being married to a woman I didn’t love, and then four and a half of her being psychotic, just to one day decide that I was done? I was done before I married her.”
Hudson and Steele looked at each other for a few seconds before looking back at me. “Wait, what?” Hudson asked. “We’ve just been waiting for you to realize you deserved a life, man. If that’s not what this is . . . why are you leaving her?”
“Oh, man, no shit,” Steele said on a breath.
I caught his stare for just a second, but there was no doubting he knew.
“What the f**k am I missing?”
“Hudson,” Steele said and smacked his hand on the table. “Focus, you f**k. Saco’s smiling again. He’s leaving his wife. And he wants to stay in this little town that holds nothing but bad memories and his soon-to-be-ex psycho bitch wife.”
Hudson just shook his head and let his hands fall to the table. “Yeah, I’m still lost.”
Steele smirked at me. “If she means enough that you’re finally going to leave Olivia, then I bet I approve.”
I eyed him and leaned closer so I wouldn’t have to talk loud. “You’re not going to judge me at all about this?”
His smirk faltered. “If you’re already with her, I’m going to tell you to think about what you’re doing. You’re still married, Saco. You should divorce Olivia before you start anything with this girl.”
“What the f**k, are you serious?” Hudson hissed. “You’re cheating on Olivia?”
“But seeing how you’re planning on leaving your wife for another woman, I’m betting it’s already started,” Steele continued as if Hudson hadn’t spoken. “Am I right?”
I nodded and ground my jaw.
“I love you, man. You know that, and I know Hudson will agree that we just want to see you happy for once. If she’s what makes you happy, then that’s what we want for you. But don’t do it this way. Leave Olivia, and then continue it. And I’m not saying that for Olivia, because you don’t owe that bitch a damn thing. I’m saying this for whoever this girl is, she deserves to have you go about this the right way.”
“I know she does,” I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face.
“Unless she’s just trash, then we need to have an intervention. But knowing you, I doubt that’s the case.”
I leveled a glare at Hudson. “She’s not. I’m pretty sure she’s killing herself over this, she hates what we’re doing . . . and I hate that she feels like that. But it’s hard, there’s stuff I have to take care of with Olivia first. And we tried staying away from each other—swear to God we tried—but there was no way to. I know this is going to sound so f**king weird, but I knew within days of meeting her that I needed her to live.”
Both guys just stared at me blankly for a few seconds. “Huh. Well, damn. What’s her name?” Steele finally asked.
“Kamryn.”
“Wh—um . . . this is a girl, right?”
I barked out a laugh. “Yes, her name is Kamryn.” I spelled it out for them, and they both laughed.
“Shit, I was worried there for a second,” Hudson said, and I shot him a droll look.
“Really, though, you would both like her. Brown hair, blue eyes, amazing smile and body. She wears these hipster glasses that I swear to Christ I would hate on anyone else. She has this southern drawl she tries so hard to hide, owns a bakery . . . I don’t know. Just—everything about her.”
“Well, come on, picture.” Hudson grabbed for my phone resting on the table, and I shook my head.
“You won’t find one. I delete our texts too. She’s terrified of anyone finding out, and I don’t want Liv to find out about her because I don’t know what she’d do to her.”
“How’d you meet her?” Steele asked.
I laughed hard once and scratched at the back of my neck. “Well, she’s my sister-in-law’s best friend. Kamryn’s bakery is right next to the boutique Kinlee and her mom run, and I guess Kamryn is always at their house. I went over for a barbecue, and it just escalated from there.”
“Well, I’m glad you found someone who will make you happy. It really is good to see you smiling again. But, like I said, think about what you’re doing. She sounds nice, don’t make her go through this. Finish whatever it is you have to with Olivia, and then be done with her . . . you don’t want to be one of those guys who cheats on his wife, and if people find out, you don’t want her to be seen as one of those girls.”
“I know.” I sighed. Everything he said I already knew and thought about on a daily basis. I hated that I was making Kamryn go through this with me. I hated that I couldn’t have been single when I met her. But I’d tried to stay away, and after feeling dead for so long . . . after finally getting a glimmer of being alive again . . . there had been no way for either of us to wait for me to be divorced. I just hoped I could figure out a way to get some help for Olivia soon.