Even Ingrid.
There's only one reason why Cash is still sleeping on a cot in my bedroom instead of a king-sized bed in a mansion all by himself. He didn’t bring anything but a few clothes with him. He's lonely. Whether he admits it or not. And whatever scraps of attention and friendship I give him are enough to keep him at my house.
He's lost everything.
His mother’s awaiting trial.
His father moved on.
And Ingrid chose me.
I'm it. I'm all he has left.
That's why he stays.
Ingrid bristles beside me, her shoulders tense and her smirk teetering on the edge of something close to loathing. I need to defuse the situation. I need to shut this down before Ingrid explodes.
“Not surprised,” Ingrid scoffs. “You share DNA with a shameful convict and a serial cheater.”
“What are you talking about?” Cash's eyes dart from Ingrid's enraged face to mine.
“Uh...” she trails off as she looks to me.
When Ingrid gets worked up, she speaks without thinking. It's one of the reasons I used to love riling her up. She would focus all her attention on me, and Cash would fade into the background.
It's also one of the reasons why I need to keep Cash and Ingrid at a distance. One wrong word and everything gets worse.
I take a breath and snake an arm around my raging girlfriend. “We should go.”
Ingrid glances up at me, her mind racing. I can see every thought as it flashes in her eyes.
I almost told him.
“That's a good idea,” Cash says, raising an eyebrow at me, clearly reading Ingrid as well as I can.
“We'll talk later?” I say to him.
He nods. “Yeah.”
I pay for the doorknob and keep an arm around Ingrid as we walk out to the car. She hasn't said anything, but I know the words are going to come eventually.
“I almost said...” she begins as I drive her car down Main Street.
“Butyou didn't,” I reassure her.
“He would have been heartbroken.”
“And he would have gotten through it just like he'll inevitably have to,” I tell her.
She groans. “Why am I like this?”
“Why are you like what?” I ask.
Ingrid reaches for my hand and slips her fingers into mine. “I thought being friends with Cash would be hard, but I didn't expect him to make itthisdifficult.”
“I'm not excusing his shitty behavior, but he's an Allred. Untangling that weird, family bond is bound to come out in unhealthy ways. He shouldn't take it out on you, though. He should take it out on the people who fucked him over to begin with. Archibald and Fanny.”
“Yeah, well, they're MIA most of the time, so what do we do?” She lets out a shaky breath. “I can't keep doing this with him. I'm tired.”
