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“What the fuck are you talking about?” I said, confused. No part of our relationship had ever been anything other than honest, and for him to suddenly accuse me of infidelity came out of left field. And not even that, he was making zero sense.
“I’m talking about the fact that you’re married, but you’re playing house with my sister in London. And you’re not even bothering to be sneaky about it? Do you have any respect for Nat? Or for your wife?”
Suddenly, his assumption snapped into place with the clarity of a lightning strike, and I looked down at the wedding band that I was still wearing. God help me. Nat and I were just playing around wearing them last week. Now, this. Another round of explanations.
“Oh, that. Yeah, it’s kind of a long story.”
“I’ll bet you this entire goddamn house that I can follow along,” he said, his fierce brown eyes—entirely different from Nat’s in color but the same in intensity—staring me down.
“Only an idiot would take a bet they’d be sure to lose,” I said, finally shrugging off my suit jacket. “I know you can follow. Nat told me how smart you are. So, how about instead of a bet, we make a deal?”
He tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes even more as he waited for me to go on.
“Since you’re the one who dropped in unexpectedly, you will explain yourself first. Then I’ll tell you anything you want to know about the ring,” I said, holding up my hand and tapping my ring with my thumb, “and your sister’s understanding of it. Deal?”
After a while of him looking at me, he sighed and settled back onto the bed, his eyes taking on a slightly faraway look as he began to collect his words.
“Hmm. Well, I don’t know. What has Nat told you about our dad?”
“Not much,” I shrugged, thinking she hadn’t even told me her father’s name. I knew things seemed difficult between them, but she was never more than extremely vague.
“Well, the only thing you need to know is that he’s an asshole,” Shane said, reaching up to touch his busted lip. He glanced at me as if waiting for me to pass judgment on his assessment.
I shrugged. “A lot of parents shouldn’t be parents,” I said. “My mother is one of them. I’d call her a cunt, but I’m not a fan of using that word as an insult.”
He blinked at me a few times as if trying to process what I was saying before bursting into laughter.
“It’s true,” we heard Nat say from over by the door. We looked at her as she came inside with a washcloth and the first aid kit. She’d discarded her heels in favor of the plush slippers she bought on her second day here, and she changed into sporty joggers and a crop top that I loved. With her blond hair pulled back into a loose, messy bun, it hit a particular pained part of me when I thought of how we might spend all our nights like this. “I can attest to how awful his mother is,” she said, sitting by her brother and reaching for his face.
“Really?” Shane said, raising his eyebrow. “This from the girl who refused to let the Kappa Kappa bitches get to her after refusing to join them and calling them a cult?”
“You did not,” I said, grinning at her.
Maybe having the brother around could be mildly pleasant.
“Guilty,” she said, setting the warm water on the bedside table and opening the first aid kit to examine all the offerings inside of it. “I went through Rush for the hell of it. Sororities are a good networking opportunity, and I figured I might as well get into the culture while I was at USC. But as I got further into it, it freaked me out more, particularly how they would flip their hair.” She hissed and shivered as if experiencing the memory in real-time. “And their weird waves and door stacks. All of it was so fucking weird. I just couldn’t go through with it. So, when I got the bid from Kappa, a top house, I turned it down.” She shrugged, looking from me to her brother and back. “Of course, that left them with a sour taste in their mouths, so when my friends and I would go out on the row, those girls talked so much shit.”
“But it’s not like they were lying, were they?” Shane said.
“Never said they were,” she said, picking up the washcloth. She looked over at me and shrugged. “It was the usual slut-shaming, saying I slept my way to the top of my class and all the other typical shit. But here’s the thing: I got my way to the top of my class because I’m intelligent and worked my ass off. I slept around because I liked it and made sure those hoes knew it.”
Shane and I both laughed at that, but the laughter was short-lived before Shane winced visibly and pulled his arms in to protect himself.
“God, Shane. Be careful,” she said, sitting next to him and beginning her examination, looking him over from top to bottom. “I’m pretty sure there’s blood matted into your hair.”
“You can always give me a haircut,” he said, closing his eyes as he relaxed into her care. There was an evident protectiveness as her careful fingers ranged over him, ensuring that her touches were soothing and gentle as she wiped off his face. He opened his eyes as the washcloth moved past his eyes and turned to look at where her hand was hovering over his shoulder.
“Wait just a goddamn second,” he said, bolting upright.
“Jesus, Shane!” she shrieked, bringing her head back right before the top of his head met her face. “Are you trying to give me a black eye now? Also, I’m pretty sure you have a broken rib, so no sudden movements!”
“We can talk about my sudden movements later,” he said, grabbing her left hand and pulling it forward. “Did you elope?”
She sighed. “Seriously?” She set the washcloth aside and gave him a sideways look. “You freaked me out for this?”
“Yes, seriously,” he said. “Before, I thought your boyfriend was a cheating scumbag who was flaunting his marriage without respect for you or his wife. Now I find out you’re the loser who gets married without telling me?”
“This is way too long a conversation to have on an empty stomach,” I said, pulling out my phone. “Are you good with Chinese too, Nat?”
