Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance

was as mortifying as it was freeing, and it hurt. Fuck, it hurt so

much that Claire couldn’t breathe. That was the reason she

didn’t sleep. Because sleeping deprived her of oxygen.

Because the world didn’t have enough oxygen.

Haley hadn’t begged or cried when she’d gone. She was

rational. She knew what Claire was saying and she’d agreed in

the end. She knew they couldn’t be together. She had tried to

fight a little, but she knew Claire wouldn’t be swayed. Except,

could she have been? Probably not.

She’d done the right thing and she’d been a ghost ever

since. She didn’t think it would be so hard, getting over Haley.

The house hadn’t been so empty before she came. Nothing had

been missing for Claire before Haley came. Alright, not true,

but very little that she couldn’t fix herself. Now, she couldn’t

fix anything.

Claire lay staring up at the ceiling until three in the

morning. She wasn’t sure what it was about that magical,

stupid number showing on her phone when she moved her

finger across the screen, but something about it screamed at

her to get up. What good was it just staying on her back,

haunted by all the things that had already happened and

wouldn’t happen again?

She shoved out of bed. She hadn’t bothered getting

undressed. Her black blouse and black slacks were horribly

rumpled, but who was there to see or care? It was three in the

damn morning.

It was the lack of sleep that made Claire feel bleary and

almost drunk. She still made her way to the kitchen just fine.

Once she was there, in that still, hulking darkness, she took a

deep breath. And another. And another. It turned out, there was