Page 88 of His to Cherish
Camden had been ringing the “asshole” bell loud and clear, which was exactly what I expected from her.
And yet, the few times I’d heard her say it, I couldn’t bring myself to agree with it.
Because I was still a fool, and even ignoring Aidan, knowing whatever I thought we were building was over, I still couldn’t hate the jerk.
“Someone give me good news,” I pleaded.
“Psssh,” Camden said into her glass, frowning. “I don’t have anything good. I got a new boss at work the other day and he’s a total prick.”
“Is he hot?” Paige asked, a glimmer in her eye. When Camden shot her a glare, she shrugged. “What? Office romances are hot.”
“And could get me fired.” Camden scowled. “And no, the guy is worthless and his hair is greasy. He’s a total slimeball, really.”
“That sucks,” I muttered, only because I’d been listening to her complain about her new boss for days now. I didn’t blame her, either. Camden worked for a tax accounting firm that handled accounts for small- to medium-size businesses. Tax season was finally over and she was finally able to stop working until nine or ten o’clock every night. From what she’d told me, her new boss only got the job because he was related to some higher-up, not because he was qualified.
And Camden had wanted that job, so she was fuming about the guy’s ineptitude.
“I had a kid shove a pea up his nose at lunch today,” Paige added unhelpfully.
I turned and looked at her. “How is that good news?”
She grinned. “It mademelaugh.”
I shook my head, a small, brief chuckle falling from my lips while I was midsip in my margarita. It made the drink bubble and then burn in my nose as I choked on it.
“Ow,” I whined, pinching my nose to stop the horrible feeling. Tequila burn up the nose was wretched.
But it broke the morose feeling that had settled in the room for a few minutes, at least until Blue looked at me pensively. She’d been relatively quiet throughout the night, watching me with a look that told me she was trying to decide what to say, if anything. She’d fit right into our original group of four from the very beginning when Paige had gone over and talked to her one night at Fireside. In truth, Suzanne had dared her to, since Blue had seemed to know Declan and she wanted to know if the two of them were dating. Not that we’d ever told Blue that part. Sometimes I felt bad for her and Trina. It wasn’t always easy to become the new members of a group of friends who had known each other for what seemed like forever. I knew it made them uncomfortable, feeling like they couldn’t be completely honest with us.
But we loved them. We loved Blue and Trina just like we loved each other. In the last year, we’d all gone through hell and back several times over with the drama they’d both faced early on in their relationships. To me, at least, it cemented us together in a way that few would understand.
“What?”
Blue shrugged, seeming to carefully consider her words.
“When Cory left you, that was really shitty.”
“Thanks for bringing it up.”
She pinned me with a look. One that, swear to God, she had to have learned from her now-convicted father. He was rotting in a federal prison due to his illegal dealings while he ran an underworld crime family. Had I not known how kind and sweet Blue was, the look she gave me would have made me tremble in fear.
“Do you remember when Tyson and I were separated? And we both got drunk and sat on that bench waiting for a cab?”
A cab we’d never seen show up because when Declan had seen us sitting outside, worried, he’d called Tyson to pick us up. After Tyson had arrested her father, Blue hadn’t spoken to him for months.
“Of course I remember.”
“Then you’ll remember that you told me Tyson Blackwell is one of the good guys. He lied. He hurt me intentionally by keeping information from me, and I didn’t know if I could forgive him for that. It was you and your wisdom that opened the door to the possibility of me being able to do that for him. I feel like in this case, it’s my turn to do the same thing for you.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t the first time.”
“And it won’t be the last,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “I mean, come on, Chelsea. He’s lost hisson.In an accident—no advance warning, no time to prepare. How stable do you really think the guy is going to be? And with Mandy showing up, someone I’ve heard crazy-ass things about, and her history of dicking Aidan around for the last fifteen years, you have to give him a little leeway to fuck up.” She shrugged, as if she hadn’t just rocked my world and the foundation I’d been trying to stand on the last few days. When she spoke again, her voice was sweeter. “I’m not saying you have to forgive him. I’m not saying you should. I’m saying the man needs a bit more understanding and allowances for screwing up right now. That’s all.”
“And if you don’t get yourself some closure by talking to him soon,” Suzanne said, cutting in before I could speak, not that I could find anything to say, “you’re going to regret it, sweetie. Talk to him. Listen. And then decide.”
I glowered at her. “Who said you could come to girls’ night and be rational?”
Suzanne shrugged, a hint of a smile on her lips. “I haven’t been drinking.”
