Leaving at Noon by Jess Dee Read Free Book Online

laugh—anything to
cover her need to cry. “There’s nothing simple about touching Theo
anymore.” There’d been a time, a very long time, when she couldn’t
be in the same room as him without touching him. “I can’t remember
when last I reached out to him. It’s not just a matter of not being
able to talk to him, I don’t know how to touch him. We don’t
connect anymore. On any level. We just seem to want different
things now.”
    “ Different things, as in
different people? Not each other?”
    “ No. It’s not about other
people. I swear. Our problems are ours alone.”
    “ Maybe then a third person
can help solve them.” Fiona’s eyes creased with determination. “A
neutral third party. Tell me what I can do.”
    “ You’re already doing it.”
Zoey held out her glass. “Distance and booze are a great
combination. Just keep feeding me drinks, and I’ll be fine.”
Eventually.
    Maybe.
    Or maybe not.
    Yeah, probably not.
     
     
    “ I’ve looked at the
numbers, analyzed the data and come to a conclusion,” Spencer
said.
    Theo raised a brow. Trust the accountant to
sum up his crumbling marriage in a math equation. “Yeah?”
    “ Yeah.” Spence nodded. “My
conclusion is you’re a fuckwit.”
    Levi tipped his Heineken in Spence’s
direction. “Amen to that.”
    Irritation coiled in his chest. “Fuck you
both.”
    “ And that, right there, is
the reason Spence is right, and you’re a fuckwit,” James said. “You
told Zoey the same thing: fuck them both.”
    Theo was surprised he even remembered saying
it. Usually he forgot the shit he threw at her minutes after
voicing it.
    But the fight on Sunday night had been
different from their others. First, Zoey had whittled their
problems down to one shocking factor—they no longer liked each
other. And then she’d announced she was leaving.
    There was little to no chance Theo would ever forget anything about that night.
    “ Jesus.” He shoved his
hand through his hair. “I was pissed off. I didn’t mean it.” He’d
meant to hurt her, not encourage her to sleep with Levi and
Spencer.
    The irony of his logic didn’t escape him.
There was something pretty damn twisted about wanting to hurt his
wife.
    “ Yet you said it anyway.”
Greg shook his glass, twirling the ice in his Black Label. They
were all sitting in his lounge room. Well, all of them except Theo,
who was pacing its length.
    Levi sipped his beer. “Can’t say I blame
Bozo for going to Noosa.”
    Theo glared at all of them. “What is this? A
Theo roasting? When Ava said I should talk to someone, I bet she
never expected my best mates to haul me over the coals.”
    “ If Ava knew what you said
to Zo, she’d drag you over burning coals herself,” Jared assured
him. “And you know what she thinks about violent
behavior.”
    “ Yeah.” James flinched. “I
don’t want to be the one who tells Liv.”
    Liv probably already knew, considering she’d
dropped Zoey at the airport. And if she knew, Ava knew. Chelsea
too.
    Theo gritted his teeth and paced the length
of the floor. “She said some pretty crappy things to me too.”
    I don’t particularly like you anymore.
    This is not passion. It’s disgust.
    We’ve become toxic.
    “ You’re defending your
actions now?” Spence asked.
    Theo shook his head. “I’m just telling it
like it is. Like it has been for months now.”
    “ She insults you?” Jared
asked in surprise.
    “ We insult each
other—every time we talk. Vicious shit.”
    “ Jesus.” Greg looked
shocked. “That doesn’t sound like you two.”
    “ You screwing around on
her, Theo?”
    Theo quit pacing long enough to pierce Levi
with an acerbic glare.
    Levi didn’t drop his gaze. He just folded
his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side.
    The prick still expected an answer. “Fuck
you, Barret”
    “ Lev.” James shook his
head. “You know he’s not.”
    Levi didn’t back down. “I know my girl is
hurting.”
    “ Theo’s girl,”