The dent in our vows

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Heaving out a suffering breath, I picked up a bottle of water and opened it. "I caught her dancing with some asshat at a club."

He must have been shocked because he suddenly paused, confusion crossing his face as he watched me take a swallow from my bottle. "You sure that was Dawn?"

I tossed the water from side to side in my mouth before swallowing. "I was surprised too."

His face looked like he was trying his hardest to make sense of the situation. "Well, there can only be one reason why she would do a thing like that." His brow squeezed together. "What did you do?"

I frowned. "What makes you think it's my fault?"

"Behind every woman's impulsive behavior, there is a man triggering it." He folded his arm over his defined chest and smiled smugly. "Back to my question, what exactly did you do?"

"You're unbelievable." I scoffed. "I did nothing wrong."

He tilted his head and quirked his brow at me, giving me the look that said he didn't believe me.

Tanner had been my friend for ten years, he knew Dawn as much as I did and he knew me even better, which was why I barely got anything past him.

"Fine, fuck whatever." I exhaled. "Maybe I did do something but if she'd just given the whole wanting a baby thing a rest, I wouldn't have blown up and said mean things to her."
I squeezed the water bottled as something irritating coiled in my gut. "But that sure as hell didn't give her the fucking right to leave the house and go strut her stuff on some sleazeball who would've fucking kissed her had I not intervened."

His brows rose in intrigue. "Dawn wants a baby?"

"Yes she does and it's fucking taking a toll on me."

"Okay, did you tell her why you don't want to have kids?"

I swallowed back the lump rising in my throat. "I didn't."

He deliberately made a face.

"Come on." I didn't think we'd get this serious I didn't even think she would want kids in such a hurry."

He took a slow breath. "She's a woman, women are always like that. You should've learned your first lesson after allowing Stacey to get pregnant and then forcing her to-"

"Tanner."

He stopped immediately and pursed his lips. "I'm sorry, I know we're not supposed to talk about her but it feels like what happened before is going to happen again." He exhaled deeply. "Look, I'm no relationship expert, I'm not even sure I'm ever going to tie the knot but I think you guys just need to work this out. You're both at fault."

My head throbbed with an impending headache. "She's always going to keep going back to that place." I sighed, propping myself against a nearby wall. "I'm not sure how long I can avoid this."

"You know, you should have come clean about it before marrying her. It's not her fault for wanting children She loves you. You fucked up here."

I scrubbed my hands down my face, my mind running a mile a minute. "What do I do now?"

"Go and meet your wife and talk shit out."

"I can't." I shook my head. "I'm still very much mad at her."

"Then I guess you're okay with the fact that she's probably crying herself to sleep right now."

"No." I groaned, laying my head against the wall. I didn't want that.

"Then put your stupid ass anger aside and go to her." He clutched my shoulder and yanked me off the wall. "She's the best thing that has happened to you in a long time, don't ruin this because you're scared of some shit that I still think is just plain fable and a coincidence." He gave me a friendly tap. "Go home now, I'll lock up."