Roni

"Were you with him yesterday?"

Roni shook her head, confused by the fury in Noah's eyes and voice, but even more so by his line of questioning. She'd been a wreck all morning because of the inevitable impending conversation, but she hadn't prepared for this.

"No."

Noah rolled his eyes as she held the door for him to come inside, and he stalked by her. There was no greeting, no hugging, no kissing. He'd even flinched when his arm grazed hers as if it sickened him to touch her.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, peering at him. "Why would you ask me if I'm in love with him or if I was with him yesterday?"

"Why'd you work so late last night?"

Was he really serious? "I told you or at least I tried to, but you were a little drunk. When I got to the gym, I saw how much of Bianca's work was piling up since she sprained her ankle and was laid up at home. When I let Nellie know, she said she'd keep Jack as long as I needed if I wanted to knock it out so we could both stay home this weekend when you guys got back."

That seemed to stun him a little, but his brows furrowed anyway. "How long have you known him, Roni?"

Clearing her throat, Roni did her best to remember what she'd rehearsed. Complete honesty. She'd leave nothing out.

"I met him when I worked at ESU."

Noah's rigid expression fell, and for a moment he looked almost devastated. But it was short-lived. In the next instant, he looked ready to kill. "Are you fucking kidd—?"

"But I hadn't seen or known anything about him since," Roni said, holding her hands up. "I swear to you on Jack I'd completely forgotten about him. It's why when he said he thought he knew me but couldn't place me I had nothing for him."

"So, what happened? You two rekindled whatever old flame you had?"

"No!"

"Is that why he sent you dick pics?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He texted you shit you didn't tell me about, right?"

This stumped Roni. How did he know? But again she reminded herself, complete honesty. "He looks completely different now from what he did back then, so I didn't recognize him—"

"Did he text you pictures?"

"He did," she said, cringing when Noah let his head fall back in exasperation. "It was just one photo of him from back then! He had hair and a goatee, and he asked if maybe the old him wasn't familiar maybe the young one was."

"So what? Is that when it all started?" Noah demanded. "Was that how he got you?"

"He did not get me." Roni huffed as she followed Noah around the kitchen island. "And what do you mean it all started? Nothing started."

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me about this?"

Roni's heart pounded as she leaned against the kitchen counter and she pleaded her case. "This whole thing with me worrying about Jack had me crazy. You'd already been so annoyed about his initial texts I didn't see the point. As far as I knew, he still hadn't been able to place me, and I told him the picture didn't ring any bells—"

"Why?"

Roni stood a little straighter, trying to garner the courage to get through this because she'd only ever seen Noah this incensed once in her life. "Because I didn't want him to remember me. We had one appointment left, and I just wanted to get it over with without any awkwardness."

"Awkwardness?" Noah's eyes widened. "Did you sleep with this guy?"

"No."

"Then what the fuck would be so awkward about him remembering you?"

With another deep breath, Roni prepared herself to spill it. "He asked me out back then. More than once. Many times, actually, when I worked there, and he was a lifelong student. I was in a relationship at the time and told him that's why I declined, but he persisted."

She told him about the confrontation between Mateo and Derek and how even that didn't make Mateo back off. Though she wasn't stupid enough to include the part about accepting coffee from him after the fact and even thanking him. "Then my mom got so sick I resigned to take care of her, and I completely lost touch with him. But nothing ever happened between us."

"So, what's this shit about you and him having an affair?"

"What?"

"I had his daughter in my office today," Noah said, raising his voice. "She was crying her fucking eyes out saying you and her dad are having an affair and that her mother confronted the two of you two days ago. Is that true?"

Roni brought her hands over her face and shook her head. Unbelievably, this was only getting worse.

"Is it true?" Noah bellowed, making Roni flinch.

She nodded, making Noah's already enraged eyes go wider, so she explained as fast as she could. "The day of Jack's appointment Mateo made a pass at me when we were observing Jack behind a two-way mirror." She brought her hand up when her husband seemed to swell two times in size and looked ready to erupt. "Just when he was trying to convince me that there was a mutual attraction that we both should just give into, his wife burst in."

She told him the rest as each word only ignited him further. But she was glad that his anger with her seemed to ease as she explained how Mateo's wife had just assumed she was his mistress. She had no choice but to admit now that they didn't even finish the cognitive testing, but the receptionist had called her back asking if she wanted to reschedule, and they could do so on a day when Mateo wouldn't be there.

Noah was already shaking his head. "Fuck no."

She nodded because it's what she'd told them, albeit she'd been nicer about it to the receptionist. "They later called back to say Mat—" She caught herself when Noah's brow lifted. "The doctor was willing to sign off on Jack's final prognosis. That he's been doing this long enough and he'd known from the first appointment Jack was fine. The two-part testing was just a required formality, but he'd seen enough in the second appointment to put it in writing."

By the time Roni was done, she was drained and in tears. "I called Nellie crying when I left his office that day, and we both agreed it was it was pointless to ruin your tournament and I should just wait until you got home to tell you. I'm so sorry."

Noah stood across from her, leaning against the wall as she cried into her hands. A few seconds later, she was stunned by his big arms wrapping around her as he hugged her tightly.

"If I ever see this fucker again, he's dead."

Roni nodded, as she inhaled the comforting scent of her husband's big hard chest. "You won't." Pulling away to look him in the face, Roni looked up, surprised by Noah's red-rimmed eyes. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Noah said, sounding mad again. "This isn't on you. I had a bad feeling about this guy the moment I heard him call you Roni then read his text about it driving him insane." He closed his eyes, shaking his head." I'm sorry I doubted you even for a second. I'm sorry I was a dick again."

"No!" Roni shook her head adamantly. "Given the circumstances, I would've freaked out too. I'm sorry I put you through this."

Cradling her face, Noah kissed her so deep she tingled everywhere. He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, then spoke against her lips. "I'd never been so scared in my life. For a moment, I thought I'd lost you."

"Never." Roni clenched the shirt against his chest. "I would never—"

"It's what I'd said when his daughter started to ask if you'd ever..." Noah's still emotional eyes bore into Roni's. "I didn't even let her finish." He nipped her bottom lip, before she could respond to that then pulled away to look in her eyes. "Don't ever keep anything from me again." He pressed his hard body against hers. "No matter what the circumstances."

"I'll regret doing so for the rest—"

"Don't regret shit. Ever." He pressed his body against hers again. "Just learn from it. No matter how pissed you think it's gonna make me, just tell me. Now is there anything else you left out?"

Roni thought about it for a moment but shook her head. "That's all of it. I haven't heard from him again, and seriously doubt he'll have the nerve to show up at the gym again."

"Oh, I fucking hope he does."

Shuddering at the thought, Roni leaned in and kissed Noah softly. "He so not worth us wasting any more energy on, babe."

For the first time since he walked out of that car looking so infuriated, Noah smiled against her lips. "God, I hope that fucker shows up."

Before she could even try to counter that, he kissed her roughly—deeply. Their kissing went on frantically until they were panting. With a swift lift, he had her on the counter, pulled up her skirt, and ripped off her panties.

Writer's Note Y'all think Dr. Douche will have the nerve to show up at the gym?