I could not believe he was putting the whole trust thing on me. “Umm, Earth to Dave. You were the one who cheated on me, so if anyone has any trust issues, I think I’d be the one.”

I could hear Dave take a deep breath. “You know, I’m trying not to get all negative with this. I thought that because of what we had at one time, that we could have a conversation like adults.” He was on a roll now. “I was hoping that we could be happy for each other.”

“I always should have figured there was something up between you two,” I said.

“Would you stop? You’re not even listening to me!” Dave sounded really exasperated. “I entered therapy after we broke up. Even when I was away shooting One Tree Hill in South Carolina, I made the time to have a phone session once a week. Being in therapy really helped me give myself back to me.”

I gripped the phone. My head was pounding relentlessly, and my right ass cheek still vibrated from my paddling last night. I was not in the best condition to be trying to grasp all this.

Dave’s voice went all soft. “When I finally managed to work through everything that had happened with us, I realized there was this amazing woman right next to me.”

“Madison?” I paused. “Isn’t she really young? Isn’t she twenty-five or something like that?”

“Yeah, she’s young, but coming from her kind of background, she seems really mature, so I don’t feel like there’s much of a gap.”

“Yeah, I guess you would probably grow up fast with all that kind of money around you.”

“It’s more than just being rich . . . She’s classy.”

Smirking, I resisted telling Dave that the word classy just wasn’t classy.

“So, when are you guys getting married?” I asked brightly.

“We’re getting married on Valentine’s Day.”

“This Valentine’s Day? That seems awful quick,” I squawked into the phone.

“It’s not quick when you’re sure,” he replied quietly.

I closed my eyes against the receiver. Of everything said during this conversation, this hurt the most.

“I’m sorry you’re not happy for me,” Dave said. “I’d be happy for you. You know I wanted a life with you.” His voice started getting angrier, almost vicious. “I wanted to make a future with you, but you had to ruin everything. You always ruined every good thing. Any holiday or special occasion you always had to pick a fight.” He was spitting his words into the phone. “You should really think about going into therapy.”

I was too stunned to interrupt.

He was gaining momentum. “You don’t have any idea what being normal is like because you’re from such a fucked-up family. That’s why you’re so fucked-up and that’s why you fucked us up.”