Knox fills me in. “We sent him outside.”
I’m officially in the clear to let it all out. But should I?
My calming breath doesn’t do its job. So, I try again. And again.
“Darlin’?”
Nope! Not today!
Whirling on them, I ball my fists at my side. “Don’t you dare Darlin’ me!” I pinch of guilt gnaws at me. It’s not their fault. I know it’s not. But it’s like today was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Blinking, Griffin pipes up, “Maybe you’re the one who has done something to earn her wrath.”
Pointing my finger, I add, “I’m not too happy with you either, Griffin Montgomery.”
“She last named you,” Knox says with lifted brows and a ghost of a smile.
Griffin squints, taking in every aspect of my body. Rigid posture, red haze in my eyes, tight jaw. “What happened today, Raven?”
Sarcasm isn’t a good look in times like these, but I need to protect my wounded heart somehow. “I’m so glad you asked. I met a lovely woman today who felt inclined to let me know she’s fucked you both and wanted to compare notes.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting. Frustration? Guilt? But I get neither. The undiluted rage that rolls from them leaves me dumbfounded.
Knox widens his stance and crosses his arms. “First of all, and I speak for Griffin and myself in this, fuck that woman. Not literally. I mean that she can die for all we care.”
A vein pulses at Griffin’s temple. “Second, we had different lives before you. We’re almost forty years old. Did you think that we’ve been celibate that whole time?”
“Of course not,” I return with a little more fervor than I mean to.
“We were going on dates while you were still learning how to walk, a fact I don’t like to dwell on because it makes me feel like a damn predator.” Griffin shakes his head, and Knox winces at his words.
I roll my eyes. “You’re not predators. And I’m an adult. Aconsentingadult. I know how to say no. Y’all aren’t some evil beasts taking advantage of my innocence. That went out the window a long time ago.”
The pain of that memory is like a knife to the gut.
“That’s exactly my point. You had a life before us, too,” Griffin points out.
Not much of a life.
“I know that.” I cross my arms, not yet willing to let go of the injustice of today.
Griffin makes another point. “You’ve definitely had sex before us. You didn’t arrive in Mystic River as a virgin.”
Not by choice.
Another knife.
“Who was it? The woman,” Knox inquires.
“She said her name was Ruby.”
Griffin rears his head back, and Knox frowns.
“We don’t know anyone named Ruby,” Griffin informs me.
I still can’t let the argument go like a real mature adult would. “Are you sure? You could’ve gotten drunk and taken her home.”
“No way.” Knox shakes his head. “We don’t sleep with the same woman separately. If I go home with her, Griffin avoids her. The only time it’s the same woman is when it’s together, and that isn’t something we do regularly or while drunk. So, we remember their names.”
