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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMason pulled his hand away from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I looked at him, then at my wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGo ahead,\u201d I said. \u201cTell me this is part of the workout too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claire quickly grabbed the towel from the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re making this bigger than it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That answer hit me harder than I expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ten minutes earlier, she had asked me to ignore the first incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I had caught him crossing the line again, and somehow I was still the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mason reached for his gym bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook, man, I don\u2019t want any trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen don\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Claire immediately stepped closer to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDaniel, just let him go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We had been living in that quiet American suburb outside Columbus for almost five years. Our garage had slowly turned into a small home gym\u2014rubber flooring, adjustable dumbbells, a squat rack, and the American flag my father had given me hanging beside the side door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three afternoons a week, Mason came over to train both of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until that day, I had never questioned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I was replaying every session in my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every joke between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time Claire had suddenly become more enthusiastic about training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time Mason had stayed a little longer after I finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Claire touched my arm again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan we please talk inside?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy are you acting like this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I almost laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLike what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJealous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That word told me everything about where her head was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hadn\u2019t accused her of anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hadn\u2019t even raised my voice again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet she was already defending herself against an accusation I hadn\u2019t made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mason zipped his bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI should probably go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time, I stepped aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Claire looked surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe she expected another argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe she thought the whole thing was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mason walked down the driveway toward his truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then his phone buzzed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He glanced at the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At almost the exact same moment, Claire\u2019s phone lit up on the bench behind her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She turned toward it too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She noticed that I noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And suddenly, neither of them looked relaxed anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing,\u201d Claire said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mason opened his truck door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Claire picked up her phone and immediately locked the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the first moment I stopped thinking about what I had seen with my own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because whatever had just appeared on those two phones seemed to scare my wife far more than getting caught with his hand on her ever had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And before Mason could drive away, I heard Claire call his name in a voice I had never heard her use around me before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amazingworlds.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/image-133-768x1024-1.png\")
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