The ReactionI awoke panting, bathed in sweat. Tony lay sleeping peacefully, and I felt grateful I hadn’t screamed.
I lay back on the pillows, aching from my earlier encounter.
I didn’t know who I was anymore.
Was I going mad? Why did I tell Tony yes? Was it Tony I told, or Joe? Who was I intimate with? What would it do to Tony if he learned my yes was a lie?
Then, with horror, I remembered the time Tony lay with me in his study. I said, “I love you,” aloud, but it was to Joe.
I had never lied to Tony: I never told Tony I loved him in all the years we had known each other. But should Tony ever learn the truth, he would believe me to have lied to him. He loved me. The truth would cut like nothing else ever could.
I rolled away from Tony, curled into a ball. Tears streamed to my pillow,
