Playing Field

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Ashley

The lacy black on the floor inside the front door wasn't mine.

That was the first hint something was up. The moaning coming from the bedroom was the second.

What the hell?

"Kris?" Tentatively, I placed my bag and phone on the hall table and closed the door behind me. "Are you watching porn in the bedroom again?" I assumed he was looking for 'inspiration,' as he called it.

In the two years we'd been together, he'd tried some…

interesting ways to spice up our sex life.

One time, he put on a dinosaur costume with nothing under it, and asked me to dress as a cavewoman.

He chased me around the living room until his tail knocked a vase off the table and smashed it to pieces.

Once we'd finished cleaning up and laughing, we had a great session. Without the dinosaur costume, which was retired to the hall closet.

I poked the black bra with the toe of my shoe.

It wasn't my size; my breasts weren't that big.

The short skirt a couple of metres away wasn't my size either.

Or the matching black lace g-string that lay outside the bedroom door.

They were spread out, like they were recently stepped out of, piece by piece.

"Kris?" I spoke gingerly. The moaning was louder now, higher pitched.

I peered into the dimly lit room. The curtains were closed.

The TV wasn't on.

That registered a moment before I saw the bed covers move. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and—

The covers were thrown aside. A bleached blonde head appeared. Long tousled hair covered her face.

Then I saw Kris. His eyes were closed in the way they did when he was enjoying himself.

A lot.

She swung her leg over to straddle him. Eyes closed, she lowered herself over his hips. She moved rhythmically as she rode him, her head tossed back, bare breasts out for all the world to see.

Okay, for Kris to see.

I blinked a couple of times, unable to believe my own eyes. Yeah, no, I wasn’t hallucinating or having a particularly distasteful nightmare.

What the absolute fuck?

They were both still there, in front of my eyes. Kris and… And her.

I tried to speak, but only a squeak came out at first.

I cleared my throat. "What the hell?"

There, that was better.

Kris' eyes popped open. Apparently all the blood had left his brain, because he gaped at me like he also didn't believe what he was seeing.

"A…A…Ashley. You're home early."

No shit.

"Yeah, I thought I'd surprise you." Evidently I succeeded. Not as much as he surprised me. Hot tears stung my eyes as the reality of the situation fell over me.

I turned and stalked out of the bedroom.

"Hey!" the woman protested.

I whipped back around to see he'd shoved her off him. She threw out her arms and almost tumbled onto the floor. Honestly, I'd be okay with it if she had. She was in my bed, screwing my boyfriend. She deserved it. They both did.

I squinted. I recognised her. What was her name? I couldn't remember. She wasn't someone I knew well, but I'd seen her around. Her boyfriend was a close friend of Kris'.

"Ash, wait." Kris hopped up, naked except for a single dirty sock, and reached out a hand to me.

"Don't tell me it's not what it looks like," I snapped.

He hesitated, as though that was exactly what he was going to say. "I— I can explain?"

Was he asking or telling me? Did he even know?

I dashed tears off my cheeks and crossed my arms over my chest. "Well then?"

There was literally nothing he could say that could make this right. Nothing. I shouldn't even try to humour the cheating asshole.

I stood there, staring at him. Who the hell was he?

He looked like the guy I lived with, the guy I shared a goldfish with, until it died last week.

At the same time, he looked like a total stranger.

Hair mussed in that “just fucked” look, eyes wide and unblinking, like a deer with anxiety.

They shifted to the side, as if the floor to my left would give him the answers he needed to come up with.

"Brandi needed some comfort…" he said uncertainly.

Right, Brandi.

I looked over his shoulder. Brandi stood beside my bed, with Kris' pillow held in front of her, pressed against her bare breasts and pussy.

Thank fuck it wasn't my pillow.

Wait, what was I thinking? She was still naked in my room. She screwed my boyfriend, and she didn't even look sorry for doing it.

She gave me a sweet smile.

Heaven help me, if she suggested I join them, I'd take that pillow and shove it where the sun don't shine. Yeah, somehow I'd make it fit.

"I was upset." Brandi had one of those voices that sounded like a little girl, even though she was very much a grown woman. "My boyfriend is out of town and I was lonely. Kris was just—"

My eyes swivelled back to Kris. "While the cat's away, hmmm? I wasn't due back home until tomorrow, so you figured…" My lips twisted bitterly. "What I don't know won't hurt me?"

"It's not like that," he protested. "It just…happened."

"Right," I snapped. "And how many times has it 'just happened' before?"

If possible, his eyes widened even more. I half-expected them to roll out of their sockets and down the hall to the front door. "Never. I swear. I wouldn't do that to you, I love you. I just…"

I shook my head. "Yeah, you just… Just cheated. Just fucked up. In. Our. Bed."

I wanted to cry, or throw something heavy. I wanted to turn around and run.

I might do the first thing later, when I was alone. The latter— I wouldn't be the one to leave. My name was on the mortgage to this place.

"Get your stuff and get out," I growled. "You have an hour. Anything still left, I'll throw out the window."

"But Ash…" He reached for me.

I stepped back, out of reach.

"One hour." I turned on my heel and walked out of the room. Four steps and I was in the kitchen. I turned on the coffee machine and pretended to be busy while Brandi dressed and scurried out the door. I hope she remembered her g-string.

I rubbed my fingertips over my forehead. The start of a headache was coming on. That was the least surprising thing that happened today. Walking in on my boyfriend in bed with another woman would give anyone a migraine.

"Ash, babe, can we talk?" Kris stepped into the kitchen and tried to look me in the eyes.

"What is there to say?" I asked, my voice tighter than my nerves. "You were screwing another woman. Not just that, but your friend's girlfriend. Who does that?"

Kris sighed and looked down toward the floor. "A guy who made a mistake?"

"A crap friend," I snapped. "And a crap boyfriend. I meant what I said. It's over. I want you out. Now."

He slumped. "Fine, I'll leave, but it'll take me a while to pack up my comic books."

I should set them on fire.

"Whatever." I turned my back on him. If I never saw his face again, I'd be okay with that.

Now the shock of walking in on them was wearing off, my heart started to ache. Tears prickled my eyes again.

I held back the sobs. I didn't think I could stop once I started and I didn't want to lose it in front of him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Let him think I didn't care as much as I did. That I'd move on with my life the moment he was gone, and never give him another thought.

I wished it was that simple. He tore a hole in my entire life. Pulled out the comfortable rug from under my feet. Now, I was in freefall for a few thousand metres.

I poured a cup of coffee and added a couple of spoons of sweetener and a whole lot of milk.

Even though my stomach was twisted into all kinds of knots, I took a sip.

It was cold.

Without realising, I remained standing in the kitchen holding the mug in my hands for ages. Distracted much? Yeah, a lot, with good reason. Kris was still moving around, throwing things into boxes and bags.

A tiny part of me wanted to tell him to stop, to make him promise never to do it again. He could stay. We could work it out.

The bigger, and much more sensible part of me, couldn't get him out the door fast enough. The urge was almost strong enough to help him pack, so he was gone sooner.

To hell with that. He'd made our bed; he wasn't going to lie in it again.

I grimaced. I'd have to change the sheets.

Maybe burn them. The idea of sleeping where he cheated turned my already knotted stomach.

I might have to sleep on the couch for a night or two.

Maybe get an exorcist to flush out any demons left behind.

Could I afford a brand-new mattress? Was it cheaper than an exorcist?

"Ash?" Kris' voice interrupted my pity party.

I turned around. "What?"

He wore the blue shirt and jeans combination I liked best on him. Probably on purpose. Maybe he thought if he appealed to my sentimentality, I'd take him back.

He brushed a bunch of hair back off his face. He needed a haircut, like always. He only went when I all but dragged him, kicking and screaming, to get it done. Later, he'd tell me how glad he was to have me looking out for him.

Now he would have to fend for himself and it was one hundred percent his fault.

Why had he cheated? Was I not enough? Was I away too often for work?

Was my dark hair not as appealing as Brandi's bleach blonde look?

Were my hips too wide or my breasts too small?

Had I been too overbearing in insisting he take care of himself once in a while?

Did any of the potential reasons even matter?

He did it. Why was irrelevant, or so I tried to tell myself.

He scratched the side of his nose.

"I'm sorry, okay? It was a one-time thing. I got caught up in it. I was there, she was there—"

"So she accidentally fell on your dick?" I snap, trying to hold onto the anger, not the tears.

He flushed. "Yeah, something like that. She was really aggressive and I wasn't thinking."

I gave him a sideways frown. "You're blaming her now? She came after you and you were powerless to resist?"

"Yes," he replied. His face fell. "No."

"It has to be one or the other," I said.

He licked his lips and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. "I should have tried harder."

"Yeah, just a bit," I said. "So, you were leaving?"

"Uh, I guess. If that's what you really want?" He smiled as if he thought he stood a chance of convincing me not to throw his cheating ass out the door.

"It is," I said, before I could change my mind. "It really is."

His face fell again. "Okay then, I guess this is it." He didn't move.

I pointed. "The door is that way."

"Oh, yeah. Right." He picked up a couple of bags, grabbed the handle of his suitcase and trudged toward the door; any slower, and George A. Romero would want to cast him in a movie.

I watched his back until he closed the door behind himself.

Only then, I noticed his phone on the hall table beside mine. I hurried to pick it up and reached for the door handle. Before I turned it, I switched on his phone and quickly scanned his contacts.

There. I picked up a pen and scribbled down a number on the notepad I used as a shopping list. What can I say, I like paper lists.

I turned off Kris' phone and opened the door to see him standing outside. Without a word, I handed him his phone, and closed and locked the door.

I leaned my back against it for a moment and sucked in a few breaths. I couldn't get my head around the fact it was over. Just like that. Two years gone, as if it meant nothing at all.

I pushed off the door and opened the hall cupboard. His ridiculous dinosaur costume was still hung inside.

With no hint of remorse whatsoever, I slid it off the hanger and carried it over to the window. I slid it open and shivered in the sudden blast of an autumn breeze.

Two floors down, Kris dragged his suitcase over to his old, beaten up car. It was parked beside my older, even more beaten up car.

He opened the back and threw in his bags. He hauled his suitcase in beside them and closed the door with a thud.

A very final-sounding thud.

He turned to look up at the window. He looked hopeful again when he saw me standing there, then confused as he saw what I held.

I whipped the dinosaur costume out the window, dangling it by its oversized head.

He put up a hand as though he could stop me, or catch T-Rex on his way down.

The wind whipped at the costume and threatened to tear it out of my hands. I waited for a minute, until it dropped, then let the costume go.

It fluttered like a giant leaf, all the way down to the sidewalk. There, it landed with more grace than the average falling dinosaur, and lay flat on the ground like Brandi's bra had.

I closed the window.

As satisfying as it might be to watch Kris scurry after his costume, I had a phone call to make.