Page 62 of Intolerable Bishop

Ren grabbed my arm. “Theo hasn’t stolen me from you.” She pulled me to a stop, and I couldn’t look at her. “Okay, let’s back up for a minute and start with the fact that I’m in love with you, and God, please forgive me, but Theo looking identical to you was what gave me the confidence to sleep with him.” I looked at her, and she sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I have grown to like and care for your brother, but we are not in love. At least I’m not. Not yet, anyway. I do love you, and when I was freaking out, and Theo grabbed me and kissed me to stop my panic attack…my mind divided. I wanted him, but it was also comforting that he was you, or not you, but he looks like you. Okay, you get it.”

I smirked at her, trying to get out what she wanted to say. Ren didn’t usually trip over her words, and there was something very comforting about the way she was right now.

“So, you’re saying you slept with Theo because he looked like me?”

She cleared her throat. “No. I’m saying I slept with Theo, no illusions, and I wanted to. But do you have any idea how hard it was not to yell your name?”

That made me laugh. Fuck, I wish she had. It would’ve served my arrogant brother right to have my name called out. “I would’ve paid to see his reaction,” I said, making her smile.

“I know this has to be weird, but I wasn’t really in the headspace to worry about more than not freaking out over everything.”

The sun was shining through the leaves, and it looked like the beam was dancing along on her face. She took my breath away. I ran my knuckles down her cheek, soaking in the softness.

“I know, and I said I didn’t care. Being the virgin of this group of guys is not easy, but that is a me issue, not a you, or even a him issue. I’d managed to hide it for so long and was great at pretending, but now they all know, and I have someone in my life I actually want to be with, and I…shit…I screwed up and don’t know where we all stand or what’s going to happen from here.”

“I don’t really know. I mean, we acknowledged that we like one another, but Theo has Liam to consider, and I have you and Myles. It’s just complicated, but….” Ren slipped her arms around my waist. “Would you hate having him involved if that was what I wanted?”

I kissed the top of her head and breathed in her scent as I let my eyes close. “No, I don’t hate it. I don’t love it, but only for purely selfish reasons. It means sharing you with more people and having less time with you.”

“You’re right, but it may not even become an issue,” she said, and I laughed.

“Oh, trust me, it’s an issue. You may think that you and Theo came to a sort of understanding, but you don’t know my brother the way that I do. He has never fought over a girl before. Ever. Or been protective like he was today, and he’s never taken a girl out on his bike. He certainly hasn’t taken a girl to the races. Liam has never even seen him race.” Ren’s eyebrows shot up. “Trust me, he may not have wanted to say it, or maybe he didn’t recognize that he was falling for you, but I did. I knew the moment he told that guy Rylan that he was also yours. That’s not my brother.”

“Oh…I…shit, shit, shit.”

Cupping her cheeks, I kissed her forehead and then nose before gently kissing her lips so I didn’t reopen my cut and bleed all over her.

“Do you not want him?”

“I think I do. But, like I said, we hadn’t exactly sat down and talked logistics.”

I burst out laughing, and Ren stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “You two really are well suited, you know. I can see him explaining it to Liam the same way. Look, at the end of the day, I’m still struggling, and it was a blow to my ego, but what happened wasn’t about me, and I’ll get over it. I may need to run my brother over with my car a few times before I feel better, that’s all.”

“So, does that mean you’ll come back to the cabin and let me curl up with you to watch a movie? I could really use some Blake time.”

My lip twitched, and I wrapped her up in a hug. “You always know what to say to make my heart feel better. I just wish I offered you the same thing in return.”

“You do, but think about it like this. I have so much drama that I could use all the support I can get, and this way, it doesn’t just fall on one pair of shoulders.”

“That may be the smartest thing you’ve ever said.”

Ren snorted and then laughed as she pulled back and took my hand, our fingers linking together. “I don’t know about that, it seemed like a polite way to say I’m a fucking handful and need all of you to take care of me, but I’ll accept the compliment.”

I tugged on Ren’s hand, and she stopped and smiled up at me. “You’re not a handful,” I firmly said, and her smile fell as she stared at me. “Ren, I don’t know if you realize this, but I’m going to let you in on a secret.” She cocked a brow as her eyes grew suspicious. “You don’t need any of us, but we all need you. Remember that. It’s your superpower.”

JUNE 10 – SATURDAY 4:45 PM

Ren

“No, Lizzy. You can’t come here, and I can’t tell you where I am,” I said for the tenth time. My best friend either didn’t want to hear me or didn’t care if she got killed, but I did.

“Bitch, I swear to God. I’m still having nightmares from hearing that your house was shot up on the news. I thought you were all dead.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that I didn’t contact you right away so that you knew I was okay. But I just…I was….”

“Zip it. I don’t care if you were crawling through a barbwire field filled with landmines and being chased by aliens that wanted to impregnate you.” Well, if that wasn’t an image. “Do you understand that I love you, and you scared me? That’s unacceptable because then I become a needy bitch, and I hate myself, and it’s all your fault.” I bit my lip to keep from laughing because, at this point, I couldn’t tell what would set her off. A squeak slipped out. “Don’t you dare snicker at me. You won’t have to worry about whoever is trying to kill you ‘cause I will hunt you down if you laugh at me.”

That was it. I burst out laughing, and her ranting at me only made it worse. I sobered up quickly when I heard her crying.