The entire group seemed to shift as I let out a heavy sigh. “When the apocalypse started, I had stormed out of Jay’s house into a massive horde so I went back in and grabbed the first thing I saw which happened to be the golf club. It worked. I took down a lot of zombies on the way to my car.”
“Why were you storming out of Jay’s house?” Micah raised a brow as he scratched his beard.
“Technically it was my house too,” I murmured, not really caring to elaborate. I didn’t want to air my dirty baggage to the first men I’d been attracted to in who knew how long.
“Jay and Tor were together for two years. That’s why they were living together,” Daisy interrupted, and Jay coughed before shooting her a glare.
A tingle swept up the back of my neck and across my face as I wrapped my arms around my waist.
“Maybe there was a reason Tori didn’t want to tell them,” Spencer snapped at her. “It’s not your business, but I guess you love putting your nose where it doesn’t belong. She did storm out of the house that day because she foundyouwhere you didn’t belong.”
Daisy’s lips curled into a scowl. “So sorry our love was greater than theirs.”
“Greater?” Spencer snorted, and Dad nudged her with his elbow. “What? I don’t think any great love story starts out by sleeping with your best friend’s boyfriend behind her back.”
My face heated as I dipped my chin down and stared at the carved line Nathan had dug into the dirt. He’d abandoned the stick next to it, and I felt that both men were tense beside me.
“I wasn’t just sleeping with him! We wanted to be together!” Daisy’s voice turned shrill. “Weweretogether when she wasn’t around!”
“This isn’t the time or place for this discussion,” Mom stated firmly, but Spencer wouldn’t let it go—not that I blamed her.
“You say that like Tori was the other woman. She was the one dating and living with him!” Spencer threw her hands up with a loud groan. “God, are you that stupid?”
“It’s not my fault Tori decided to be infertile and couldn’t give Jay the family he wanted!”
My body flinched as if I’d been physically hit, and my blood ran cold.
Jay slapped his hand over her mouth before her eyes widened. “Stop talking, Daisy! You don’t need to defend our actions. We went about it the wrong way, and you agreed with me that we did. Getting defensive isn’t helping our situation.”
She kept her mouth shut as he moved his hand, and a warm tear trickled down my cheek before I wiped it away roughly with the back of my hand.
“Tori,” Spencer whispered, the regret thick in her voice.
“It’s fine.” My voice cracked, and I forced myself to look up. “I might beinfertile, but at least I can’t have a baby in a post-apocalyptic world.”
3
NATHAN
Glancing around the group, I noticed no one in particular looked as shocked as I felt, not even Micah, who wore his cool façade like a mask.
Daisy and Jay had betrayed the sweetheart of a woman next to me in the worst possible way, and she stillsavedthem?
I couldn’t wrap my mind around being that selfless, but at the start of the apocalypse, I had been in a very public area at the beginning. Survival meant numbers when the world ended, and I assumed that was her thought as well.
But with the way that woman spoke, I didn’t know why the familykepther around.
“Daisy, I know this has all been hard on you, but there is no excuse for your behavior,” Grace, Tori’s mother, scolded her.
Daisy didn’t reply, she just put her head down.
I wrapped my arm around Tori’s waist and helped her to her feet. “Don’t worry, killer. You dodged a bullet with those two. Besides, not having to worry about birth control is a plus in my book.”
“Excuse me.” Tom coughed, and my face heated as I shot him a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, sir. I’m just saying.”
“Thanks, Nathan. That’s another plus to infertility in this world,” Tori murmured.
