Page 3 of The Bad Husband

I should’ve at least pretended to be interested in participating.

Frankly, I don’t know much about her new life.

All I know is that she and her husband spent their honeymoon in the Bahamas after a late March wedding at his vacation home in Upstate New York––a vast log home surrounded by guesthouses, each equipped with a Swedish spa.

He’s not Swedish, but he must be a good actor like her. Eccentric things must be his brand.

I never met the guy and consider myself lucky.

This house––the one I like to call the pharaonic tomb, despite being one of the most beautiful estates in the south––is big enough to never run into him or his wife.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying the perks that come with her new life, like this limo.

My father may have been wide-eyed in her presence, and simple-minded to a fault, but I’m nothing like him.

I know not to trust anyone, especially a woman who has made a career out of burying her husbands.

At thirty-one, she just scored her third husband.

Needless to say, I have zero sympathy for him.

“Why wouldn’t you come to visit me? The place is really nice,” I murmur, a shred of irony in my voice.

“Please,” Keira laughs. “I loathe those people. I’d rather have you crash at my place. We could catch up after work, eat pizza, and talk about normal stuff like boyfriends and their wandering dicks.”

The driver might’ve caught what she just said as he tilts his eyes to the rearview mirror.

I shush her, and we both laugh.

It’s been a while since I hooked up with someone.

Actually, I’ve only been with one guy. Not the greatest story. Not the greatest ending, either.

It wasn’t my intention to become celibate after that.

My life was so busy that I didn’t find the time to go out and start dating again. To be fair, there may have been a smidgen of reluctance on my part.

The guy was my first, and maybe we weren’t a great fit––or perhaps I intimidated him as he had claimed––but my first sexual experience really sucked.

We made out a lot, but never got to the point where we would do the actual thing the way we were supposed to.

Sweaty, hungry for each other, chasing highs, and doing it again, and again.

In my defense, I always went for the good guys. I like good guys. The nice, sweet, timid even men.

Daniel made for a great friend, but once we hooked up, things started to change rapidly, and we ended up with a ruined friendship and a not-so-good intimate relationship.

Keira convinced me it happens a lot. I’m not so sure about that.

One thing I know, though. I’m not done with the sweet, charming guys. I’m naturally attracted to them.

I like them to be ‘intimidated’ by me, although I don’t do anything to intimidate them, not on purpose, anyway.

The good thing is that Keira and I are both working this summer, so yeah, why not hook up with someone new?

She couldn’t get a steady guy the entire year, and I just tripped over myself every time I wanted to find someone.

So we made a bet.