“Understood. I’ll quit while I’m ahead.” He hesitated, seeming to weigh his next words carefully. “Have you considered what you’re doing about your dad?”

She sighed. “Not even slightly. Can we not talk about that tonight? I’m trying to ride these endorphins as long as I can.”

“Sorry, Butterfly. Whatever you decide, it’ll be right.”

“See, this is why I married you,” she said impulsively. “You always know what to say.”

He kissed her on the temple. “Yeah, I’m above average at winging it, and my instincts are pretty good.”

As they snuggled up to sleep, Leanne hoped with all her heart that everything would be fine, but past life experience suggested that because happiness was nearly in her grasp, shit would soon go catastrophically wrong.

***

Surprisingly, Trev still didn’t know what the hell to make of what he’d overheard, even a week later.

On the surface, nothing much had changed apart from Leanne’s win, but the questions in his head wouldn’t quit. He couldn’t even talk about it with his therapist because the stuff he’d overheard sounded wild even to him when he replayed it. Most of the time, he tried to pretend like he’d misunderstood something or taken it out of context. That allowed him to do what he’d been doing for most of his life: cope with a situation he couldn’t change.

He’d been seeing Dr. Grant for about five weeks, once he finally acknowledged he needed to get help officially. At first, talking to a stranger over video seemed weird, but he definitely preferred it to an office visit. And now he looked forward to the biweekly sessions because he was learning to manage his brain and trying to stop treating himself like the enemy.

Damn it, he couldn’t even ask Titus because his social circle was too tightly entwined with Leanne’s, and he knew his best friend all too well. If Trev hinted at something bizarre, Titus would absolutely ask Danica about it. Plus, he was still chewing on the fact that Titus had evidently known Sarah had been cheating on Trev.

All these years, and not one word. They needed to talk about it, but it made Trev’s chest hurt to think about bridging the conversation. Once again, he was alone, struggling with multiple problems, even though he was “married” and supposedly had friends.

Initially, he figured he had no choice but to wrestle this stuff solo, but then it occurred to him: Dante asked me for advice, right? I can do the same. Nothing specific, but maybe the guy would have some helpful insight. And if not, Trev could use the company.