Page 1 of The Recovery Coach
Chapter 1
Olivia
OliviaStewartstumbledtowardher front door, clutching her aching abdomen.It had taken ten years of pain, heavy bleeding, traumatic ER visits, and half a dozen doctors to get her endometriosis diagnosis.Birth control kept her symptoms mostly under control, but she still had bad days.
She cursed her uterus.Fucking thing took and took and took, literally bleeding her dry until she struggled to stay conscious.
She tried to get through her workday, but they sent her home early.Vertigo made focusing on a computer screen impossible.Her boss struggled with the same issue and took pity on her whenever possible.As soon as her coworkers finished their lunch breaks, Olivia was handed a Gatorade and ordered to take her ass home.
She fumbled her keys, muttering curses under her breath as she stooped to pick them up.Lance would be pissed if she woke him.His shift started soon, and nobody wanted a sleepy surgeon.With the door unlocked she tiptoed into her own home, feeling like an intruder.
When she followed him to Seattle, she’d imagined date nights and working together and drinking wine while they watched movies on random Thursday evenings.Getting away from his controlling family seemed like the perfect opportunity to grow together as a couple.It had been six months, and they hadn’t done any of the things she’d looked forward to.Lance was settling into his role at the hospital, and though they worked in the same building, they were on opposite schedules.She didn’t know how they could start a family if they couldn’t even find time to eat dinner together once a week.
She kicked off her shoes and set her purse on the kitchen counter, stopping to eat a single slice of plain wheat bread so she could take pain pills without vomiting them back up later.The pills swallowed, she snuck into the guest bathroom to change into pajamas, hoping to nap away the agony.
The bed squeaked in the next room, pulling Olivia out of her trance.
Fuck.She’d woken Lance.
This is all she would hear about for the next week.She sighed and opened the bathroom door, ready to face the music.The bed creaked again, and she hustled to the bedroom.If he had to get out of bed, his complaining would be much worse.
What she found stopped her dead in her tracks.She needn’t have worried about disturbing Lance’s sleep.He was very much awake.
Her boyfriend’s bare ass flexed as he ground into his partner.Toned legs encircled his waist, pink-painted toes curling in pleasure.Olivia could only stare until the adrenaline kicked in.She flicked on the lights to better see her future being flushed down the toilet.
Lance’s movements stilled, his head snapping toward her, his dick still buried in his mystery woman.Rage fueled Olivia’s next movements.He wasn’t worth a fight.Nothing he said mattered anymore.She’d planned her life around him.Around having his babies.Wearing his wedding band.She tolerated a lot of shit during their years together.His constantly putting his own needs ahead of hers.Walking on eggshells in her own home, terrified she would wake him with her mere existence or say something to set him off.Being told “soon” every time she asked when they were getting married.If he cheated while they were dating, he wouldn’t stay faithful when they were married.
Numbness spread through her chest.Her body moved before her mind caught up.Grabbing an overnight bag out of her closet—the smaller closet because Lance’s suits were more important than her work clothes and pajamas—she stuffed a week’s worth of clothes into it.Lance scrambled out of bed.She gave him a once-over, taking in his rumpled hair, glassy eyes, and flagging dick.No condom in sight.The fucker.
“What are you doing?”he asked.
She ignored him, gathering her skincare and makeup bags from the bathroom as he followed her around.All the while he talked, but Olivia was so mentally removed she couldn’t have told you a single word he said.She stormed back into the bedroom, grabbing her birth control and antidepressants from the bedside table.
The naked woman in her bed sat up, gathering Olivia’s favorite flannel sheets to cover her breasts.“You don’t have to be such a bitch.I’ll go, and you guys can talk things out.”
Olivia hadn’t realizedwhoher boyfriend had been fucking.She had liked the perky nurse.Adored her.They’d gone on coffee dates and shared breaks at work.They’d gone on double dates with her and a couple of her boyfriends over the past few months.Now she knew why Lance encouraged her to invite Amanda over so often.
“Oh, fuck you, Amanda,” Olivia said.“You were supposed to be my friend.”
“We are friends.”
“Not anymore.”
Lance tried to rip the bag from her hands.“You aren’t going anywhere until we talk.”His words were a demand, but Olivia held tight to her bag.
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
If she had to stay there one more minute, she would break down, and he didn’t deserve to witness that humiliation.She tugged the bag.When he didn’t let go, she forced herself to meet his gaze.She yanked at the bag again.
“Let go of me, Lance,” she said through clenched teeth.
“You have to let me explain.”
Olivia didn’thaveto do shit for him.She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep her tears in check.She didn’t answer him.Didn’t agree to hear him out.
Lance let go when she yanked on the bag again, letting her stumble backward.“Fine,” he said, his face flushed with anger.
Olivia threw her duffel bag over her shoulder and headed for the door.
