“Yeah… it sounded like he had a threesome.”
The sadness in her voice breaks my heart. She told my brother she loved him, and she’s never said that to anyone before. And this is how he acts right after they break up? I’d put my anger for him to the side, but knowing he’s done that to Beth is making me feel it all again.
“Fucking asshole,” I say through gritted teeth.
“It’s like, it was all I could picture in my head. I felt so angry, the last two months clearly meant nothing to him. I guess… I just wanted to prove it was the same for me. But it wasn’t… it isn’t.”
That voice resounds in my head again, telling me it’s my fault they’re not together. They were in love, and now they’re apart, all because of me.
“Shit, Beth. I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” she says, “I just… I love him, and I fucking miss him, but I hate that I miss him.”
“Beth, I know we’re best friends, and we’ll always be best friends—you’re my family. But I don’t want you to miss out on him because of me.”
“I already said it’s not because of you. Yes, I hate what he did to you; but even if you weren’t a factor, I can’t be with someone who has those views. I should never have let it get that far with him; I knew the club rule, and I shouldn’t have ignored it. And…”
“And what?”
“Nothing,” she says.
It’s clear there’s more to the story, but she’s not ready to talk about it yet, and considering how many things I’m keeping from her, I’m not exactly in a position to lecture her about being honest. We both sit quietly, letting it sink in; I listen to her soft breaths down the phone, missing her in this moment more than I have the entire time I’ve been away.
“Do the rest of the club know about me?” I ask.
“I don’t think so, no one’s said anything about it to me anyway.”
“You think my brother is too ashamed of me to tell them… or is he trying to protect me?”
She exhales with a sigh. “Honestly, I have no fucking clue what’s running through his head… maybe I never did.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case,” I say, “you can’t just discard the last two mo—” My phone beeps with another call coming through, Diablo’s name appearing on my screen. “Oh shit!”
“What?” she asks.
“Nothing, I’m uh…” I can’t tell her it’s him, talk about rubbing salt in her wounds, but he’s phoning, and my first thought is that this could be life or death, depending on how seriously he’s taking my father’s rules. “I’m just getting another call through; can I call you over the weekend?”
“Yeah—” she starts, but I hang up.
I know it’s rude, but this could be a heads up… or a warning. Both of which could be time dependent.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Donovan?” He sounds shocked and surprised.
“Yeah… you called me.”
“I know, I’m just surprised you picked up.”
“Well I did, what do you want?”
“I need to see you, please. Can I come to Winbrook?” he asks.
My first thought is no fucking way… Other than Jamie and Max, I’m alone here, and I’m not dragging them into my brother’s club shit.
“No,” I say.
“Well can I meet you somewhere, please, I really need to see you.”
