I wonder if this is how it feels to be trapped in that kind of wreckage. Like noiseless, dark energy sparking out of existence.
Ethan’s voice slices through the overwhelming silence in the room. But it’s not the voice of my boyfriend. It’s the man who interviewed me months ago. Harsh. Demanding. Angry. “What’s he talking about, Tori?”
My eyes dart between everyone in the room.
Ethan, who’s pissed and confused, whose eyes beseech me to tell him that Jamie’s lying, that beg me to tell him he knows the real me.
Allison, who’s triumphant and conniving and likely planning my slow death.
And Jamie, who’s arrogant and so fucking pleased with himself he’s practically levitating off the ground.
It’s his haughty smirk that pushes me over the edge.
I’m a car skidding off a cliff. Tires squealing. Dirt flying. Engine roaring.
I’m that girl.
Again.
The one who loses control and veers off the road.
Untethered and unmoored.
Reckless.
But if I’m going down, I’m taking that asshole with me.
Tori
Flushed and feverish, I kneel down in front of Mila. “Honey, go find Uncle Logan. Stay with him, okay?” I don’t understand how I channel a gentle tone with Mila when the storm of emotion whipping through me is cresting.
She nods and skips off, completely ignoring Allison when she tells her to stay.
As I stand, I point to the path Mila took out the back door. “That’s what happens when you ignore your kids, Allison. They ignore you.” My voice gains strength. “And you can sweep in here and pretend like you’re mother of the year for all your friends, but let’s get one thing straight. I know you’re a shitty parent, but worse? So do Mila and Cody, and they’re the only ones who matter.”
It’s her turn to sputter, but I ignore her and turn to Ethan.
The distance in his eyes is devastating, but when he doesn’t come to Allison’s defense, I take that as a small victory and plow forward. Deep down, though, I’m preparing for the death blow to my heart when he learns the truth. “The question you should be asking is how Jamie knows so much about me.”
His attention shifts to his friend, and I continue, my anger rising. “The question you should be asking is why Jamie cares. By the way, I’m calling him Jamie because that’s what he told me to call him during the six months we dated.” Ethan’s eyes cut back to mine, his nostrils flaring. “I didn’t know he was married. I didn’t know he had children. I didn’t know because he lied. About everything.”
Behind me, Felicia gasps, he and his wife shouting I’m a liar and a whore and a cunt, but I ignore them. This isn’t about them. This is about Ethan understanding.
“Remember when I told you about my ex?” I remind him. “Yes, part of what he told you about my past is true, which is why I never drove your kids anywhere except the one time you insisted.”
“She’s lying,” Felicia screeches. “James has never cheated on me.”
Looking over my shoulder, I shrug. Jamie’s pale as I tell his wife the truth. “Then ask him how I know you have a tattoo of a fairy on your lower back, just above the dimple on your ass. Ask him how I know he boughtyoutickets to a Rangers game forhisbirthday last year. Ask him about how you came home early that day. How he shoved me in your bedroom closet so he could protect his dirty secret. Why he nearly choked you on his dick when I walked out to confront him.”
I’d felt unhinged when I finally gathered myself and stormed out of that closet ready to tear into him, his marriage be damned. But one look at their naked bodies before me, closer this time, with his wife in his lap, taking him down her throat, and I was rendered speechless.
I’d thought,That could be me. Completely clueless.
The dirtbag had moaned loudly, shoving her down hard to distract her from my presence. In the moment, my rage deflated, and all I felt was resignation. He was an asshole. Her asshole. And she was welcome to have him.
In the two seconds I stood there, all of the crazy I’d planned to unleash fell by the wayside. I didn’t need anymore problems.
But that didn’t stop me from slashing his tires.
