“Stop talking about her, Bliss.”
That has amusement tipping up her lips. “Or what?” she purrs. “What’re you gonna do about it?”
I stiffen at the challenge, her face tellingme she clearly thinks I won’t do shit.And why wouldn’t she think that?I’ve never pushed back against her before, always happy to let her steer the narrative because it seems to be something she needs to be happy. When people take that control from Bliss, her claws come out and swipe at anyone who makes the mistake of standing too close.
No matter who they are or what they mean to her.
Charlie is the perfect example of that. Bliss was painting an image—one where I ended up with Marisa. When I took too long to get with her script, she took initiative, leading a charge where she turned all our friends against my girlfriend in the hope of making me see sense.
Bliss wasn’t the problem, though. I was the one who let it happen, telling myself that if Charlie didn’t know, she wouldn’t be hurt. But she had been, and then I let my own self-doubt and insecurities about Barrett fuel the flames, piling onto that pain until she had been buried under it.
Letting out a shaky breath, I tap my fingers against my thigh. “Your timing that night…” Bliss’s eyes flare for a second before her expression goes blank. “It was pretty perfect, Bliss. In fact, some would even say it was risky as hell, knowing Charlie would come back from the bathroom at any moment.”
“What’s your point?” she asks tonelessly.
“I don’t have one.” I lift one shoulder in a casual shrug, sending her a tight smile. “Just making an observation.”
“A baseless one,” she spits out.
Jack clears his throat. “Can we not?” He points at the TV, ignoring the icy glare Bliss levels at him. “The Bruins just scored again, and that’s way more fucking interesting than whatever this is.”
Bliss drains her wine, setting the glass down on the coffee table with athud. I turn my attentionto the game, not seeing shit, acutely aware of her as she slides her stilettos on and stands.
Jack sighs wearily. “Where you going, Bliss?”
She sniffs haughtily as she grabs her purse. “I can see when I’m not wanted. It’s unbelievable, though.”
I shouldn’t ask, but it falls out of my mouth before I can stop it. “What is?”
She looks down her nose at me. “That you would find some way to blame me for your own relationship breaking down.”
“I didn’t blame you, Bliss,” I point out quietly. “I know where the blame lies, and it’s not with you.” I wait a beat, adding, “Or with Charlie.”
She curls her lip in a sneer. “So why the fuck isn’t Marisa talking to me, Dillon?”
I think of Marisa, her expression lost as she talked about Bliss, asking whether I thought our friend was agood person. A couple of years ago, I might have said yes. Now, I’m not so sure.
Bliss isn’t the same person we met in college all those years ago, and somehow, I missed it because she never aimed her venom at me. She is harder now, more twisted, and it’s clear she enjoys playing with people’s lives, using her tongue as a weapon when people don’t dance to her tune.
Nothing is ever black and white, and no person is ever just wholly bad…but at what point do you slice the toxicity out of your life?
And is that what Marisa is doing?
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “That’s something you’d have to ask her.”
Bliss watches me shrewdly, as if she thinks I’m lying, but she’s not quite sure enough to call me out on it. “I didn’tdo anything wrong,” she reiterates, and then she’s walking away, her heels clacking loudly on the hardwood floors.
“Not sure who you’re trying to convince,” I call to her back, ignoring the quiet “Shut up,” Jack hisses my way. “Far as I know, no one’s accused you of anything.”
Bliss pauses in the doorway, her shoulders tight and bunched up. After a second, she shakes her head and keeps walking, the front door slamming behind her as she leaves.
Jack heaves out a breath, turning to the television and ignoring the glare I level on him.
“Thanks for the fucking heads up that she was here.”
“It was a surprise to me as well. She’s hurting.”
“Charlie’sfucking hurting, Jack! Because of shitBlisssaid!” My yell reverberates off the walls, but he doesn’t flinch, flicking a look at me filled with silent judgment.
