Page 121 of Big D!ck Energy

“You heard me.” She stepped closer, her finger jabbing toward my chest. “Get. A. Grip. You are Davina Dodger. You built a fashion empire from nothing. You host a podcast that reaches millions of women. You have stood on stages, in boardrooms, and on national television and told the world that you are worthy of taking up space. Now you're going to let one woman send you running with your tail between your legs?”

“She's his publicist…”

“I don't care if she's the Pope. You don't take her word over what Dallas has been telling you for months.” Brooke grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to meet her eyes. “Think, Davina. Think about everything he's said to you. Everything he's done. The way he looks at you when he thinks you're not watching. The way he defended you at that arena, in front of everyone, like he would have burned the whole building down if anyone else said a word against you.”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to remember any of that.

“Talk to him,” she said. “Before you do anything else. Before you pack a single bag or call a single mover. You owe yourself that much. You owe him that much.”

The sound of the front door opening made us both freeze.

“Babe?” Dallas's voice echoed through the house, followed by the familiar thud of his gym bag hitting the floor. “I got smoothies. The guy put extra strawberries in yours. I'm pretty sure…” His voice cut off abruptly as he appeared in the bedroom doorway, and the scene that greeted him was not exactly the picture of domestic bliss.

Clothes were thrown across every surface, the bed, the floor, and the arm of the chair in the corner. A pair of my heels had ended up on top of his nightstand. The closet looked like it had been ransacked, and in the middle of it stood me, face swollen and red, eyes puffy from crying, hair a disaster.

Brooke stood off to the side, her expression screaming something terrible had happened, and I'm not sure if I should stay or run.

Dallas's hair was still damp from the gym shower, his tank top stretched across his chest, his expression cycling through confusion, concern, and ending with fear.

“What…” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “What's going on?”

CHAPTER 36

YOU'RE STUCK WITH ME, DAVIDSON

DALLAS

The bedroom looked like a clothing bomb had detonated.

And then there was Davina, her face was swollen, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy, her nose that shade of pink that only came from extended crying. She was clutching one of my old wrestling shirts.

She'd been crying. My wife had been crying. A lot.

“What…” My voice came out wrong. Strangled. I cleared my throat. “What's going on?”

Brooke shifted in my peripheral vision, and I'd honestly forgotten she was there. She was wearing that expression I recognized from press conferences gone wrong.

“I should go,” she said quietly. “Let you two talk.”

She squeezed Davina's arm as she passed, shot me a look I couldn't interpret, and then she was gone. Her footsteps retreated down the hallway. The front door opened and closed.

Silence.

Davina still hadn't moved. Still hadn't spoken. She was staring at me with an expression that made my chest feel like it was being compressed in a vise.

“Davina.” I stepped over a pile of jeans, navigating the destruction to reach her. “Talk to me. What happened? Why are you…” I gestured helplessly at the mess surrounding us. “Why does it look like you're packing?”

She laughed, but it wasn't her real laugh. It was hollow, brittle, the kind of sound that preceded breaking. “Because I am packing.”

“Packing for what? Where are you going?”

“Home.” The word landed like a slap. “My apartment. You know, the place I live? The place I should have stayed?”

Nothing made sense. I'd left this morning with a kiss and came home to find my wife crying and halfway out the door.

“I don't understand.” I reached for her, but she stepped back, and the rejection felt like a physical wound. “Davina, please. Tell me what's going on.”

Her eyes, still wet, searched my face like she was looking for evidence of... Evidence of what, I had no idea.