All Chapters of Lover: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Sad that we’re still in two different worlds that no longer revolve around each other. He used to be so in tune to my body that he’d have noticed my flushed skin or how dilated my pupils still are from West making me orgasm so many times. Now, he has his work and whatever it is he’s doing. And I have West, my own secret.My phone vibrates, and I stare at it.West: You okay?Piper: He left.Instead of replying in a text, my phone rings. West’s never called me before, and I stare at the screen, unsure of if I should answer it. Then, I realize how stupid I’m being. He was just inside me, so of course, I can take his call.“Piper?” he asks when I say nothing.“Yeah. Sorry.”“What’s wrong?”“I don’t know. Nothing. Maybe everything.” My head’s spinning; that’s all I know.My husband just came home, changed clothes, and ran out the door. Nothing about that is normal. Usually, I’m at work, so maybe he’s done this before. But he didn’t touch me, and our eyes never connected; that’s the exact o

Traffic’s light, and I know I have more than enough time to swing by the courthouse before West shows up at the park. On the way there, I pass Cannon’s office. The lot’s nearly empty, and his story starts to add up. They’re in court today.But, when I pull onto the street in front of the courthouse, I start searching for Cannon’s car. He’s not parked along the street at a meter and not in either of the two lots; the only place left is the parking garage a block over.It takes me a minute to get through two sets of traffic lights, and when I do, I take a ticket from the attendant and start circling around the levels. Every fifth car seems to be a black Mercedes, so I move at a snail’s pace, all while trying to blend in.When I get to the rooftop and haven’t spotted the car, I loop back through and try again, assuming I missed it. But my gut tells me I haven’t. Cannon has a sticker on the back windshield—an autism awareness lightbulb one of my students slapped on at the fundraising walk

“If that’s what you want, they can come over here.”Swinging is on Tilly. The affair is on me. I’m not mixing those worlds by telling my wife how much I want to be inside another woman. Things will end between Tilly and me because our marriage isn’t working. Piper isn’t going to be the cause of it. I won’t put that on her, and I certainly won’t do that to my wife.“I’m down for it,” she says. “Cannon’s been fun.” She walks over to the desk and looks at the screen. She doesn’t say anything as she checks out the emails. She just climbs on my lap and straddles my legs. “I haven’t asked because I just assume you’ve been happy, but you’re not looking to find a new couple to swing with, are you?”I shake my head. “Things are good the way they are.”“I agree. Cannon is just starting to be the kind of lay I need, and I don’t feel like going through another training period with some other guy. This one was exhausting enough.”I smile. “He’s having a hard time making you come?”I have to think,

“I planned on it,” I say. “It just kept slipping from my mind.”“But it seems like you’ve had lots of time to think about it. Since moving here, all we’ve done is eat, work out, and fuck. So, I don’t understand why you haven’t done this one thing for me.”There it is.The perfect dig.I was months into the hockey season when I was forced to retire. That meant spending most of my days at the rink, games at night, traveling the country nonstop. When all that was taken away from me, I just needed a minute. Did I take my wife somewhere exotic to celebrate? Did I turn into this romantic, loving guy, giving her all my attention?Nah. I didn’t do any of that.I thought about myself instead.She deserves more than that. But there’s nothing I can do to change what I did, and there’s nothing I want to do at this point.“If you’re trying to start a fight, Tilly, I’m not going to sit here and argue with you. But, if there’s something you want to say, I’ll listen.”Her stare intensifies. “I want t

“Piper, come on. You’re really pale,” West says as he tries to lead me away from the door.I throw my hand over my mouth and swallow down the bile. “I feel sick.”Cannon shifts positions and opens his eyes. When he does, his peripheral vision picks up on our shadows. The second he connects the dots, he roars, “Motherfucker. Untie me, Tilly. Right fucking now.”I turn and run, afraid of what’ll happen if I don’t get out of this house.The first door I get to opens onto the patio, leading to the beach. It’s pitch-black, and the sand is so cold, I shiver. But the sound of the waves draws me closer to the shoreline.West is right there, by my side. I see the worry in his eyes when the moonlight hits his face, but I don’t want to be touched, and I push him away.“Piper!” Cannon shouts from the patio.I pick up speed.I have no idea what to say to him. All I know is that what I saw made me uncomfortable. I’ve never asked what he does with Tilly. I just assumed it was the kind of sex I was h