Rachel comes down from her bedroom with a bag full of what I assume is clothes. “You know Alex also ghosted me? I went from two men running after me to zero men in a day.” She tells Noah, and I choke on nothing, coughing while I try to act normal.
Noah pats my back gently as he talks to his friend. “Alex left on Monday, Rachel. His father told me yesterday.” He lies effortlessly. He doesn’t even show any signs of his lie in his eyes. His voice is steady, calm, calculated. I would have blurted the truth in zero time, but Noah is sitting calmly next to me, lying through his teeth. It’s scary and impressive at the same time. It makes me wonder if he can lie to me that easily.
“He could have said goodbye first...” Rachel’s voice breaks on the last word, and I can tell this woman doesn’t deal with rejection well.
“Rachel, we’ve talked about this. Rejection hurts, but it’s not always you that is the problem. Maybe he got caught up in something and couldn’t say goodbye.” More like he got hit by something.Someone. Me.
“Rachel,it’s none of my business, but because you mentioned it, Kai isn’t ghosting you. He’s dealing with something. Give him time.” I choose to word it in a way that this woman won’t spiral, but will get some reassurance at the same time. The reality is that Kai is actually ghosting her, but not because of her. It’s because Kai gets moments of guilt between his chaotic moments. He’ll get over it soon and start running after her again, or worse. I only hope she will still want him by then.They are, after all, made for each other.
Noah
“You lied so easily,” Leo tells me when the door closes behind Rachel. “Here I was thinking you’d give in and tell the cops everything if we get questioned about last night, but you lied to your friend with zero effort.
I chuckle. “If anyone word-vomits to the cops, it will be you, my love.” I stroke his hair back and kiss his lips softly. “You were a mess last night.”
“I know.” He admits. “I am sorry.”
“I won’t ask. I won’t push, but when you are ready to share...” I begin to say, but he cuts me off.
“When I was thirteen, I caught my father raping my mother. He was abusive before, but never to this point. I took his gun from the safe. I knew the code. I had seen him open it before.” My heart sinks, but the words leave his lips so fast that I can’t do anything but listen. I have read so many dark books that I know exactly where this is going. “I didn’t even blink when I pulled the trigger.”
“Leo.” I say softly and pull him into my arms; he lets his book fall onto the couch as he allows me to hug him. I hold him for a moment too long before I speak again. “You were just a kid.” It’s the truth. He can’t truly blame himself for reacting to the abuse his mother suffered. If anything, it was brave of him to protect her. Just a kid, barely able to protect himself, picking up a gun and shooting his own father. This stays with you. No wonder he was a mess last night.
“I went to juvie until I was eighteen. With how things happened last night, if a judge knew my history, he wouldn’tbelieve it was an accident.” I disagree, but I won’t tell him. He needed Alex gone, and I am unhinged enough that I didn’t need to ask questions. I blame the fact that I have Rachel as my best friend. Her craziness was bound to bleed over to me at some point.
“I am sorry.” He whispers again and I kiss the top of his head.
“Don’t.” I say. “But we need to figure out a story about last night.”
“What do you mean?” Poor guy doesn’t realize this, but if we are actually questioned, we will be fucked.
“We need an alibi, or a good reason not to testify against each other. I am totally fine throwing Logan under the bus, but we need to protect ourselves.” An idea crosses my mind, and I grab my phone from the living room table.
“What are you doing?” He asks as I type into Google ‘spousal privilege.’ Soon enough, the information I remembered reading somewhere before appears. I turn my phone to Leo.
“I don’t understand.” He shakes his head.
“If we are married, we can’t testify against each other. We can both refuse to talk, and if one of us says anything, we both go down or none of us.” I explain. It’s a good plan, not perfect, but given the fact that I haven’t slept for the last thirty-something hours, I think it qualifies as a good plan.
“You can’t be serious.” He shakes his head, reading again from my phone. “Do you actually want to get married?”
“It won’t be an actual marriage, more of a safety net. You know, in case we get caught.” I explain.
“You read too much dark romance.” He jokes, but he takes my phone and reads the article I pulled up again.
“I can’t argue with that.” I say and abandon my seat. “Stand.” I order, and to my surprise, he actually stands. I am the least dominant person I know, but the fact that I speak and this man obeys gives me a thrill of excitement.
I reach for the living room table, for the bowl that Rachel leaves her rings in from time to time. I find one thumb skull ring she never wears, but I have always loved. I kneel and present to Leo. “Will you marry me to avoid conviction in case your friend is not successful in hiding the man you killed?” I say and Leo starts laughing.
“You are ridiculous.” He says between laughter.
“That’s not an answer handsome. Yes or no. Quick before the offer expires.”
“Yes, you idiot, but only because you are too pretty for prison.” He presents his hand and I place Rachel’s ring on his ring finger. It fits like it was made for him. Not too feminine, but at the same time elegant, like a wedding band almost.
“Well, we should get ready.” I announce as I stand.
“For what?” He asks confused.
