Say Hello, Kiss Goodbye - Jacquelyn Middleton Page 0,151
the once, to hurt Tyler like he’d hurt me.” Leia fussed with the blanket and shifted up on her pillow, her glance drifting back. “You look disappointed.”
“No, it’s just—I get it. There were extenuating circumstances.” Can I say the same? Tarquin’s stomach rolled. “Leia, I have to tell you something.”
Her brows squeezed together.
“I’ve never cheated”—he inhaled and exhaled quickly—“but I’ve been the other bloke.”
Leia stiffened, her jaw slack. “What?! Really?”
“Yeah. Four years ago.” He grimaced. “It was a one-off. I shagged the wife of an English football player.”
Eyes wide, she leaned away. “Oh?”
Bollocks. Is this a mistake, telling her? Cheeks burning, Tarquin averted her piercing gaze. “We met at a house party, both tripping balls on mushrooms, and started something we shouldn’t have. Afterward, she scribbled her number on a cocktail napkin, but I never called her. I wasn’t interested in being her bit on the side, or a homewrecker.”
Leia blew out a breath and sagged against him. “Thank god for that!”
“Drugs were not my thing, and after that night”—Tarquin squinted as he stroked Leia’s shoulder—“I never touched them again. I still can’t watch her husband play footy without feeling terribly guilty.”
“We all make mistakes.” Leia drew back with a rueful smile, then bowed her head. “But at least you didn’t break your marriage vows. I was so disgusted with myself, I didn’t share my dirty little secret with Tyler or anyone. Well, until Erika’s rooftop party in June three months later.”
“What changed?”
“One of Tyler’s rumored puck bunnies showed up on the arm of another player. I asked Ty about her, and of course, he denied even recognizing her. But I saw the letchy way she leered across the bar. Tyler was lying to my face—again. Rage consumed me, and I starting drinking—a lot.”
Tarquin’s brow creased. “When a non-drinker drinks…”
“Yep. Wasn’t pretty. I got wasted fast. And then, shit got real when I stumbled into the washroom, catching Tyler dick-deep in puck bunny.”
Tarquin cringed. “Fuuuck!”
“I went ballistic. Swearing, swinging for them, tears racing down my cheeks. They scrambled to get dressed, and our fight spilled out into the bar. That’s when I blurted out my own indiscretion.” Leia cleared her throat. “I’ll leave it to your imagination how ugly that was. Blame Ty, blame the drink, blame my hormones—my period was two weeks late.”
Was she pregnant? Tarquin opened his mouth but closed it quickly, not sure what to say.
She pulled her knees up, wrapping an arm around them. “The next morning, I kicked him out.” Her voice thickened. “My period came a day later and I was devastated all over again.”
Tarquin stroked her cheek. “Oh, Leia.”
“I dunno if it was that or the public shame, but something shook Tyler that summer. He went to counseling for sex addiction, and by August, we were talking again. He emailed me contact details for two women in his agent’s office who wanted dresses. I let him store his Porsche in my underground parking spot again.”
Tarquin gaped, raising a brow. “Is that a euphemism? Leia, tell me you didn’t take him back again?!”
“No! Not back!” She pouted and tugged at the ends of her hair. “I let him stay over once or twice.” She blinked up from her fingers, catching Tarquin’s huff. “I was lonely! Missing sex, and Ty was there. In a weird way, it felt safer being with him than hooking up with some random guy off an app.”
I’d rather you chose the rando!
“So, anyway, Erika’s wedding weekend rolled around. It was a massive deal, a who’s who of NHL players and their glamorous wives. Riley and Shantelle were there. Brooke, too, but she’d recently broken up with her guy, a goalie with New Jersey. It was a bit awkward. He was there with some woman, and Brooke was alone with their eight-month-old twins in tow.”
Leia smiled. “Those twins…I adored them. I swear I spent more time with them than Brooke that day. Tyler, too. Watching him, I saw what our future could be: him, me, our babies—my dream. I thought, If we keep trying, we could have this life. After dinner and dancing, we went back to my hotel room and made love all weekend, staying in bed until we had to check out Monday morning. Tyler headed off to play in a celebrity golf tournament and I caught a lift home with Brooke and the twins, smiling to myself the whole way. When I got there, our concierge was in a panic and said he’d tried to reach me, but