The Arrangement (The Arrangement, #1)

by Kiersten Modglin

So, when she suggested we see other people and remain married, my first thought wasn’t of the freedom it would give someone like me. Instead, it was of the options it would give someone like her.

Permission to break my heart didn’t make the ache any less devastating.

It seemed as if my wife knew my every move before I even made it, but I could’ve never guessed her moves that night. I never thought she’d go through with it. That was the bitter truth. I thought she’d change her mind. I thought she loved me too much. But she didn’t.

There were days when they were young when I begged for a minute of peace, a minute to breathe, or shower, or think…but this was worse. Back then, I had no idea how much peace I’d have one day all too soon.

Everything could’ve gone so much differently, if only I’d been a better man. But I was vowing then and there to become better. I’d put the night behind me and make myself the man my wife deserved. If only it were that easy.

over the way their life turns out, but the truth is that they just refuse to deal with the hard stuff because it’s too painful and messy. You know what’s even more painful and sticky? Prolonging bad situations for your own comfort. No one can solve your problems for you,

The way I feel about you, that’s real. Our kids are real. Whatever reality we want for ourselves, it can be real. We just have to fight like hell for it.”

“For better or worse. Because your only choice now is to kill me yourself or stay with me forever. I own your secret now, Peter. I own you.”