Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Trevor
I don’t fucking want to be here. I want a damn divorce. I want to move on with my children and my life. However, Donna is hell-bent on dragging this bullshit out. I swear on everything that’s holy; if I were a lesser man, I’d wrap my hands around her neck.
Val, the wife of my brother’s business partner, has offered a few times to make Donna disappear. I shudder every time. Something in her eyes tells me she means it.
I haven’t missed the same look in her husband Uri’s eyes. It’s something that’s kept me from joking about taking her up on her offer. My soon-to-be ex-wife is a bitch, but Donna’s still the mother of my children.
As little as she seems to care about our kids, I know they still love their trifling mama. It’s one of the reasons all this bullshit is dragging on my nerves. My babies deserve a hell of a lot better.
Honest to God, my babies are the only reason I’m here. Damn court order or not, I have no intention of reconciling and continuing this marriage. I’m here to prove that shit is absolutely impossible. The sooner I get that done, the better.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen. You’re all here for different reasons, but the fundamental reason is the same. Each of you would like to have your life feel like your own again.” Dr. Winsor’s brown eyes fall on me.
“The best way to get to that point is to find where it all went wrong. That being said, gentleman, who’s going to break the ice? Give us your name, then tell us how you think you arrived here.”
I don’t hesitate to jump on in. My kids need some stability and they deserve a better life. If I’m honest with myself, so do I. Enough is enough.
“My name is Trevor Monroe,” I say loud and clear.
“Welcome, Trevor,” Dr. Winsor says with a warm smile. “Thank you for being the first to step up. Everyone, let’s welcome Trevor.”
Solemn murmurs come from the men around me. My gaze travels around them all. A few have lovesick written across their faces, others reveal sorrow. For them there’s someone on the other end of this they want to get right for. That’s not the case for me.
“I’m here because I married a bitch. I want a damn divorce. My money is paying for some flashy, scumbag city lawyer that’s pulling all types of bullshit to prevent this divorce, but it’s happening. Sooner or later, it’s happening,” I growl as my chest heaves, my Texan accent heavy.
“Um, wow. Take a deep breath, Trevor,” Dr. Winsor says softly. “I understand you have hard feelings about your situation. I’m sure they’re valid. However, there has to be a starting point. Tell us about you. Where did it all start? How did you come to marry your wife? Where did that decision birth from?”
I clench my fists in anger and nod my head. “Yes, ma’am.”
As she suggests, I inhale a deep breath. I have to do it once more to calm myself a bit. I think, seriously think. My heart breaks as I open the gate to memories I sealed shut a long, long time ago. My vision blurs, my eyes start to burn, and I close them.
Names I haven’t said in years whisper in my mind. The course of my life was changed by those two names. The two who crushed me. That’s exactly where this all started. I’m not a fool, so I won’t deny that.
If it weren’t for what happened to Brooke, there never would have been a Donna. At least not as a wife. Everything would have been different.
My best friend, Brooke, saw right through me. She set me straight and sent me after what I wanted, but by then, everything had changed.
Memories of Brooke and the name I still, to this day, can’t bear to breathe out loud assault me. That gate swings wide open and delivers a punch to the gut. Like hot molasses, my lips loosen and it all spills forward.
“I was twenty and had so many dreams. We all did. They were my friends.
“The girls everyone had to be around. They each had their own magnetism about them. They pulled you in until you needed to be near them.” My country drawl is heavy with emotion.
As the words flow, I’m taken back to the time when my life went totally wrong. A time I’ll never get to change or go back to. It was the one time I risked dreaming for more.
Yup, I know exactly when this train wreck started.
CHAPTER 2
Then
Trevor
Twenty years ago…
I keep my eyes closed and let the hot Texas sun beat down on me. It’s damn good to be home. I’ll be the first to admit my junior year in college burned me out.