“What do you mean, oh fuck?” Gabe demands.
Nobody answers, because honestly, what the hell are we supposed to say right now?
A moment of deafening silence fills the command center.
“Were you being serious, Kenz?” Gabe snaps, breaking the silence, his voice sounding furious this time. “You’re fucking my dad and all his friends?”
Jagger throws his hands up. “Whoa. Don’t rope me into this like that. The Doc would cut my fucking balls off.”
I stare blankly at the speakerphone, horrified.
“No,” I blurt quickly. “Just your dad.” The second the words leave my mouth, I internally cringe so hard I almost implode.
Shit. That’s not really helping.
Damon closes his eyes briefly, like he physically feels the disaster escalating. “Get out,” Damon growls at the guys.
The instruction in Damon’s voice leaves no room for argument.
Jagger grabs Gunnar’s sleeve. “Come on, Dad. Apparently, we’re not welcome at family therapy.”
Damon shoots a look at Jagger that would make me pee my pants as he points sharply toward the door. The two disappear quickly, Gunnar shutting the door behind them, leaving me and Damon alone with my ex on speakerphone.And me also wishing I could’ve gone with them.
Gabe laughs through the speaker, but there’s nothing amusing about it. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Gabriel—” Damon starts.
“No,” Gabe snaps. “No, seriously, what the fuck?”
“I didn’t know!” Damon exclaims.
I step farther into the room, clutching his boots awkwardly like an idiot. “Neither of us knew.”
Gabe goes quiet for half a second before another bitter laugh crackles through the line. “Wow.”
I close my eyes briefly. This is a nightmare. Anactualnightmare layered on top of an already terrifying twenty-four hours. And I don’t know which I’d rather never have to experience again.
Shaking, I set Damon’s boots carefully near the desk. “I swear to God, I didn’t know,” I say softly toward the phone.
“How long?” Gabe asks.
Damon stiffens, roughly rubbing his hand over the back of the tensing neck. “Long enough.” He looks at me from across the desk, and the expression on his face nearly breaks my heart. He is full of disbelief and guilt, guilt for something he didn’t even know.
“No,” Gabe grumbles. “How long, Kenz? How long did it take before you realized he was good enough to fuck?
“It’s not like tha?—”
“Don’t youdarefucking talk to her like that,” Damon roars over me. “You were raised better than that.”
“How would you know? You weren’t there.”
“Because I know your mother, and she would put you through the fucking wall if she heard you talk to a woman like that.”
“Yeah… she’d have a few words to say about this to you, too.”
The silence that follows feels massive, like it might swallow us all whole.
“Seriously, Kenz? Him?” Gabe sounds exasperated.
