Nash’s mouth opened—
“No,” Addison cut him off, her voice climbing again, faster now, fraying at the edges.“No, you don’t get to Addy me like I’m some random bitch from the club.We were married, ’case you forgot.We got a kid, ’case you forgot.I washed your goddamn underwear and cooked your meals, ’case you fuckin’ forgot.”
Her chest heaved.“And here I am still doin’ the day-to-day with our kid while you”—her gaze sliced toward Cassie—“while you’re here with her like it’s 2014 all over again.”
“Look at her,” Addison went on, voice cracking hard.“Standin’ there in your clothes like she belongs here.Like it’s fuckin’ cute or somethin’.Like she didn’t leave this town and never look back!”
“Enough!”Nash roared, slamming the spatula against the counter hard enough to snap it clean in two.
“Juniper,” he said sharply, breathing hard.“Go on and get upstairs for me.”
Junie didn’t argue.She moved quickly, shoulders hunched, disappearing around her mother.
“Except she did look back,” Nash bit out once the second floor had swallowed Junie’s footsteps.“Didn’t she, Addy?”
Addison stopped short, gaze flicking between Cassie and Nash, a slow smile spreading across her face.“Oh, okay,” she sneered.“So we’re spillin’ secrets now, huh?”
She turned back to Cassie, eyes bright with spite.
“Does he know all of it then?Does he know you were never really gonna marry him?That you had one foot out the door the whole damn time?”
Cassie went still, cold washing through her.Not because it was true—because it wasn’t entirely false, either—but because she knew exactly where her former best friend was headed.
“Does he know about the clinic, too?”Addison rushed on, her smile widening.
Everyone froze—or maybe it was just Cassie who’d frozen.Her gaze slid to Nash, whose startled stare was locked on her.
“That’s right.She wasn’t late—she was fuckin’ pregnant.”
“And her junkie brother drove her up to Charleston so she could get rid of it—so she could get rid of you, Nash.”
Cassie’s vision went white at the mention of Connor, her temper flaring so fast it felt physical.Racing forward, her hand moved before she could stop it, cracking across Addison’s cheek and wiping the sneer clean off her face.
Addison staggered back half a step, then surged forward just as fast, a wild, wordless sound ripping out of her.They collided hard, hands grabbing at shirts and hair, stumbling into the table and sending one of the chairs skidding sideways before crashing to the floor.
Cursing, Nash grabbed for them, catching Addison around the middle with one arm while forcing Cassie back with the other, using his body as a barricade.
“Jesus Christ, stop this shit—”
Addison thrashed against him, screaming, trying to reach past his shoulder.“You fuckin’ bitch,” she spat, spittle flying.“You stupid fuckin’ bitch—you don’t always get to have everything while the rest of us get fuckin’ nothin’.You hear me?You hear me, you stupid fuckin’ bitch?”
Cassie just stared at her, breathing hard, eyes wide with disbelief.
“Cassie,” Nash bit out, still holding Addison back.“My fuckin’ kid is upstairs.Just take the goddamn truck and go.”
She stood there a heartbeat longer, ears ringing, heart hammering in her chest, before blinking and turning away.Darting down the hall and up the stairs, she crashed into Nash’s room—her clothes still tumbling somewhere in the dryer—and yanked on the sweatpants she’d slept in, hands moving fast, like speed alone might undo the last five minutes.
Rushing back down the hall, she nearly tripped over Junie coming out of the bathroom, red-faced and glassy-eyed.
In the brief pause of the moment, Nash and Addison’s voices carried up the stairs toward them—
“Don’t you ever use Junie for your bullshit again—”
“Oh, now I’m the bad guy?She’s gonna leave again, you know that!”
“I’m sorry, Junie,” Cassie whispered, slipping past the young girl and taking the stairs two at a time.
The screaming followed her outside where Nash’s dark-green Ford sat, light rain beading on the hood—still the same boxy body from when it belonged to Maverick, but with fresh paint now and not a drop of rust to be seen.
