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Unfortunately, the widely ruy and brought his extracurricular activities front and center

Widely rumored playboy Motherfucker

I sat back in ether, a hot curl of anger sparking in et to drink in for days, to know better than any other man has, to protect so bus I looked at every ihtly in every photo prior to the ones dated last April She’d been a natural in front of the ca very little over the years

And this twat had cheated on her--multiple tih looking bloke, I supposed, though obviously older than her I clicked through to another article, one that listed his age at thirty-seven, ten years her senior

According to one story published only two o, it was the world’s worst-kept secret that Andy had cheated on Sara several ti perception was that he was using her for her fa the press’s love for their local-celebrity romance whenever his reputation was in need of a little public relations boost

I glanced through a few usted That arsehole had used her He’d asked her toin a skirt Christ, no wonder she had issues And no wonder, too, that she was so rown dark by the time I powered off the computer and left the den Ion a few lamps as I went, and poured myself a scotch The drink burned on its way down, ihout my veins

It didn’t help, but I finished it anyway

I pouredWas she ho at those hundreds of pictures, I could just iize? What if she was on a plane, headed back to Chicago right now? Would she even tellher down, throwing her overher into the mattress until I was the only man she re wasn’t the answer

It took e out of my suit and into a pair of shorts and trainers I took the elevator to the gy track As usual this tis were on fire and ht had been wiped from my mind, except one: it would break me if she went back to him

I went to the locker room, stripped offmy head into my hands The silence was broken by the sound ofinside my locker My head snapped up; I was surprised that anyone would be calling at this hour I crossed the room and froze when I saw Sara’s picture--a photo I’d snapped of her hand at her throat, the brush of caraht up the screen

"Sara?"

"Hey"

"You all right?" I asked

A horn honked soround and she cleared her throat "Yeah, I’ood Look, are you busy? I could--"

"No, no Was just finishing a run Where are you?"

"Actually," she said, laughing softly, "I’"

I blinked "You’re what?"

"Yeah Could I come up?"

"Of course Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you--"

"No Can I just meet you up there? I justI’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve if I wait"

Well, that was cryptic My sto the front desk"

A few h the door of the locker roo but a towel around my waist

She looked tired, with red-rimmed eyes and her botto version of Sara, one I had only seen today in photos She s a small wave as the door closed behind her

"Hey," I said, crossing the roo hed, shook her head, and so snapped back in place in her expression "I wanted to see you"

I knew she was avoiding my question but felt the smile pull at the corners of my mouth before I could stop it I couldn’t keep my hands toher cheeks "Well, that definitely warrants a trip to the ht?"

"Coet to finish earlier," she said, pushing me back toward the showers

I felt ain, the buzz of static into the towel at ainst her mouth I felt her reach behind me and heard the water start, felt it run warm down my back "You want to do this here?"

She answered wordlessly, pulling her shirt over her head and shiuess that’s a yes, then

"My apart to slow her down I could already iht here, to hear her screa but her nad body on my bed, top sheet and blankets in a pile on the floor Maybe her hands tied over her head and strapped to the rails of ers aroundin to biteher expression as she’d walked through the door It wasn’t unlike her to avoid answering ht she didn’t look hard and feisty; she looked wild for the wrong reasons Her eyes were too bare, her face drawn She’d only come for distraction

My throat was suddenly dry and I ran loss she wore

I was a bit surprised by the Sara catalog I’dit I knehat her face looked like when she came, the way her niles hardened, and how her eyelids fluttered closed only at the very last second, like she wanted to watch every moment until it was suddenly too much

I knehat her hand felt like curved aroundup and down my sides