Chapter 2

Suddenly, I understood. He wasn’t failing to answer messages. He was choosing which ones to answer.

After standing outside for over two hours, I was starving. I went into the kitchen to make noodles.

Some time later, footsteps approached behind me.

Ethan wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Is there any for me?”

He sounded pitiful, his tone much softer now.

Without a word, I stepped aside, putting distance between us.

He immediately pulled me back into his arms.

“Okay, okay. I messed up. I shouldn’t have gotten the time wrong, and I definitely should’ve answered your calls. It won’t happen again, all right?”

I tried to count how many times lately I hadn’t been able to reach him.

Then he brushed a kiss over my lips and promised, “We’re going to Alaska next month, remember? Don’t be upset.”

Alaska. Denali. Snow-covered peaks turning gold at sunrise.

That was a promise we’d made at twenty.

Now we were twenty-six. It was time to keep it.

In the middle of the night, I rolled over and found his side of the bed empty.

I walked out of the bedroom and saw the only light in the living room coming from the couch.

Ethan had his headset on. His fingers flew across his phone as he smiled and murmured to someone on the other end.

I’d never seen him quite like this.

Indifferent to how I felt, pouring his attention into someone else. Finding happiness with another person.

I couldn’t help asking, “You’re still up? Weren’t you exhausted from working late?”

He pulled off his headset without looking away from the screen.

“I’m giving myself tomorrow off. Just playing for a bit. Go back to bed.”

Then he put the headset back on and disappeared into his virtual world.

I said nothing else and went back to the bedroom.

He could afford to take a day off whenever he wanted.

He owned his own business. Whether he worked late or stayed home depended entirely on his mood.

That night, for the first time, I opened a social media app and searched for “how to tell if your boyfriend is cheating.”

I felt like a thief sneaking around.

A few uneventful days passed. I was bathing the dog at home when one of Ethan’s friends called.

“Emma, come get Ethan. We’re at a karaoke bar, and he’s wasted.”

Wasted? He’d always been able to hold his liquor.

I didn’t stop to think. I got the dog settled and drove over.

The private room’s door was ajar. When I pushed it open, I saw Ethan with his face buried against a girl’s chest. They looked like a couple madly in love.

Someone spotted me and hurried to nudge him.

“Hey, Ethan. Emma’s here.”

The girl gave an unreadable smile and gently pushed at his head.

A second later, he leaned right back into her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

His face was flushed. He mumbled, “Don’t move. Let me stay here for a minute. Just a minute.”

The girl tilted her head and gave me a sweet smile. “He drank a lot for me tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”

She said it so casually, as though she were Ethan’s girlfriend.

I found an empty seat and forced out words in a voice I barely recognized.

“Then I’ll wait until he sobers up a little.”