Page 110 of Split You Open

Blair nods, then reaches down to pull a blade from her boot. “We can even do it right now if you want?”

The delighted gasp that Santi lets out has me laughing, though I’m already moving toward the two of them.

“No, not here. We have to get rid of the body and we don’t want any of our DNA anywhere near the crime scene,” I tell them, stepping between the two of them. “Besides, there’s a less barbaric way of doing this, you know.”

Santi’s bottom lip pushes out as he pouts. “How?”

“Why don’t you guys—” I see the protest gathering in Santi’s face and quickly backtrack. “I mean, why don’t we get tattoos?”

Santi considers it for all of three seconds before he shakes his head. “Nope, I want it carved.”

“Rhett’s right, Santi. We shouldn’t do it here,” Blair says. “Let’s clean up and head back to the cabin and we can⁠—”

“Let’s go to my house tonight,” Santi offers instead quickly. “That way Rhett can get some sleep and not hang outside in the hallway.”

Both Santi and Blair look at me then.

“Santi told us his issue,” Blair hedges. “Maybe you should fess up?”

Fine. Fuck it.

It’s less crazy than wanting to be carved up.

Anxiety climbs now that I’m refocusing on the issue at hand. It gathers in my throat, makes my heart race, and my palms begin to sweat.

“I can’t lose you two. I couldn’t stomach the idea of killing Ledger, or seeing him tortured after what he’s done for me but…” I shake my head and look away from two pairs of eyes so full of concern that it’s making this even harder to admit. “It’s not like Ledger hasn’t done anything drastic before. What if he does something that would, in the end, kill either one, or both of you? The unknown is… It's driving me crazy.”

Blair steps closer and reaches out to take my hand.

Her fingers weave through mine and she gives me a comforting squeeze.

“Trust is a hard thing to give once it’s been broken,” she admits. “And you’re right to be wary. It’ll take time to rebuild it, but this was the best outcome, don’t you think?”

I don’t know.

What if my own selfishness for not wanting Ledger’s blood on my hands leads to Blair, or Santi’s, or even Wes’s, death?

The absence of an answer seems to be an answer enough for Blair.

“You heard him, Rhett. He saw something in you worth saving—it doesn’t matter that he did it for me. Ledger adores you all in his own way. If he didn’t, you wouldn’t be living under his roof. He’s not…” Blair pauses as she considers her next words. “Ledger isn’t impulsive. And he’s not evil. He just got in over his head. I don’t trust him much either, but this is… it’s what we all wanted. Now we live with that decision.”

Santi steps closer to us.

“We’ll take turns watching over each other,” he says.

I nod.

They’re right.

My anxiety is still there but being here with these two settles something in my chest.

“Alright,” Blair says. “Now that we’ve aired out all concerns, can we get rid of this body? I have a prize in mind I want to enjoy—I don’t want to wait much longer for you two to pay up.”

Her mischievous smile tugs at my heart. Fuck do I adore her, even if she scares me sometimes.

I smirk. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“You’ll see…”