Jason was quiet for a long moment. “Then … if it’s not love, it’s obsession.”
“Oh, come on!’ Ori yelled, throwing her hands up.
“Look, he’s my friend, but you should know something. Alex was extremely possessive about Viola. Extreme to the point of violence.”
“Stop it.”
“I saw the bruises, Ori.”
She turned on him. “Why? Why are you saying this shit?”
“Because I care. I care what happens to you.”
She held her hands up. “Please, please tell me you’re kidding, or this is some deluded way of getting me to—.”
“Viola slept with Maceo.”
He could not have said anything else that would have made her shut down as quickly.No.No, Maceo would have told her … she put her hands on her face. “Why are you doing this?”
“I have no proof of this, but I think Alex is dangerous, and I think he wants revenge. He knows about Viola and Maceo.”
Ori was quiet for a moment and then yelled “Fuck!’ loud and long into the silence of the forest.
“This is why I wanted to tell you out here. And to answer your question, yeah. I’m attracted to you, and I think we have a hell of a lot more in common than that bunch of rich bastards.” Jason stepped closer to her and Ori backed up into a tree. Jason trapped her in the cage of his arms. Ori tried to step away, but he grabbed her. “Don’t fight this, Ori. We belong together.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake...” She pushed her way free and started to backtrack along the trail, fury burning inside of her. “We’re going home. Now.”
To her relief, Jason didn’t argue, and they walked back to the car in silence.
On the drive home, he turned the car into a Gas ’n Sip, and for a second she thought about running.
“I’ll be just a second.” He got out, and she let out a deep breath.
Outside the weather had turned stormy, the rain slamming heavily into the earth. Ori leaned her head against the cool window as trucks and cars roared past on the highway, headlights like stars out of the looming dark. The gas station was empty apart from Jason’s car. Ori sighed heavily. She watched as Jason paid the clerk and chatted to him. Was she unreasonable?No.This morning she could forgive, but after the way, Jason had just behaved
I don’t want to be anywhere near him.She choked back the tears as they came, rummaging through her bag for a tissue. Coming up with nothing, she pulled open the glove box of Jason’s car. As she searched, her fingers brushed against something cold. Her hand closed around it, and she pulled it out. Her entire body went slack as she stared down at the knife in her hand.
Ori slammed the glove box closed, opened the door of the car, and threw up. Jason, still pumping gas into the car, moved around the car.
“Hey … hey … Ori, are you okay?”
Ori cringed away from him, all her bravado from earlier dissipated. She was shaking so badly that he crouched down, reached in, and held her hands. He glanced over to the glove box, and his face changed and became somber.
“I know what you saw in there. It’s just a hunting knife. I put it in there in case we ... Ori, we were in the middle of the forest today. I don’t have a gun. I thought it would be better to be safe. Obviously, I didn’t think it through. Here.” He opened the glove box and pulled out the knife. “You hold it. If it makes you feel safer, you hold it.” He looked at her pinched face and sighed, reached into her bag and handed her phone to her. “Call Maceo and tell him where you. It’ll make you feel safe. I’m so sorry I scared you, Ori. I’m going to finish getting the gas, then I’ll take you home. I promise, Ori. I will take you home.”
She didn’t sayanything to Maceo or Alex later, but both of them noticed how quiet she was. After the house had gone to bed, she lay awake, gazing at Maceo’s handsome face, wondering if Jason had been telling the truth. In her heart, she knew he was. Maceo had been a different person before her—at least, that’s what she told herself. How long would it be before he grew tired of her and strayed?
Ori felt her eyes fill with tears and, not wanting to disturb him, she got up and went down to the kitchen to cry silently.
As she cried herself out, she felt a hand on her hair, smoothing. She knew immediately it was Alex. She looked up at him through her tears. “Maceo and Viola,” she said simply, and he nodded.
“Yes. I hoped you wouldn’t find out.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since before she died. She told me herself. We talked. I forgave her.”
“But you never told Maceo?”
