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I swallow down more scotch. I probably shouldn’t, considering I’m already feeling lightheaded, but it dulls the sting of how fucking stupid I was.

“At least I came prepared.” He nods toward the mug.

“I can always count on you.”

“Always.”

Another easy silence passes between us as the game rolls on, but I have no idea what’s going on. It’s just background noise at this point. Everything is.

“What did Mom and Dad say?” Bennett asks after a while.

“I haven’t told them yet.”

“Don’t they find it odd you showed up out of the blue?”

“I didn’t plan on keeping it from them, but by the time all the football players left, it was late and I was exhausted. Plus, Dad’s sole concern seems to be me not being there for Wyatt, since his team has a big game this weekend. Not what could have prompted me to drive more than a thousand miles.”

“After all, football is life,” Bennett grinds out, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You know what I say to that, though?”

“What?”

“Fuck it, Winnie,” he declares. “Fuck it all.”

Several heads turn our way, but Bennett doesn’t seem to notice. Or care.

“Just tell them what’s going on. Don’t protect that asshole. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“I will. I just… I’m trying to figure out the best way to break it to them.” I lean closer and drop my voice. “You know how much Dad loves Wyatt. He’s always thought of him as a son.”

“Who cares what Dad might think of Wyatt? You don’t deserve what he did. No one does. You know that, right?”

Bennett makes it sound so easy. So black and white. But he doesn’t know how complicated things have been between Wyatt and me.

Maybe if I hadn’t been so distant, if I hadn’t turned intimacy into a scheduled event, if I’d been the wife he thought he married, he wouldn’t have strayed.

“Don’t do that,” Bennett admonishes, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

He probably does.

“Do what?”

“Blame yourself.”

“I’m not⁠—”

“You are. It’s what you do, Winnie. Whenever something goes wrong, even through no fault of your own, you pile the blame on yourself. But no matter what happened in your marriage, it doesn’t justify what Wyatt did. If Mom and Dad don’t see it that way, there’s a spare bedroom in my place with your name on it.”

I scrunch up my nose in disgust. “Thanks, but I’d rather not listen to you getting laid by whatever unsuspecting tourist you pick up at the bar.”

Bennett flashes me a smirk. “It’s not my fault I’m utterly irresistible.”

“More like insufferable,” I counter.

“Admit it, Winnie. You’ve missed me.” He playfully bumps my shoulder with his.

As I meet his eyes, a genuine smile tugs at my lips. It’s probably the first real smile I’ve managed in days. Maybe even longer.

“You know I have.”