Page 131 of At The End Of The Day

Heaving a sigh and cursing under my breath, I bent forward, my elbows on my knees. Both hands loosely clasped around the beer bottle, I tipped my head to gaze at her, wondering how to tell her. Deciding to be blunt, since I knew her well enough, I simply stated, “We had a visitor from the cops not too long ago. Seems as if they figured out who Mary was having an affair with.”

She squinted, her lips thinning further. I literally witnessed the moment she figured out what I was eluding to; her complexion paled and her eyes rounded, showing the whites around her irises. Her lips parting with a ghastly gasp, her foot hit the floor, a hand slapping to her throat.

“Shut up.”

My features scrunching with dread, a hand splayed out. “I’m so sorry, Tiny. I had no fucking clue until he told me.”

Instantly, tears were welling, her chin quivering. Turning her profile to me, a pinkness darkened her cheeks, her arms recrossing. “How long?” she croaked.

“Not too sure, but…” I pulled a deep breath, held it, and exhaled with, “Before you and Tyler fucked around the first time.”

She flinched as if she’d been physically assaulted and bowed her chin, her black curls falling over her shoulders. Her two middle fingers pressed to the spot between her eyes and she coughed several times, composing her emotions. Clearing her throat, she shook her hair out her face and sat up.

“It is what it is, right? That marriage never should have happened, I’m seeing that now.”

My lips pursed and my brows lifted. Did that mean she was finally starting to accept she’d been groomed because when we were trapped on that mountain, she’d refused to accept the truth.

“It wasn’t like I was a fucking saint—”

“Hey.” I sat up and pointed at her with the neck of the bottle. “Big difference between what you did and he did. You were still in love with bitch and probably woulda already been back with him had Jackyl not interfered and manipulated so many people. Besides, I think everything else he did to you outweighs your couple affairs with Ty.”

She bristled and batted her lashes, staring at me in disbelief.

“What?” I asked, slouching in the chair again.

“You…you called him by his name.”

“Who?”

“Tyler. You didn’t call him ‘bitch.’”

Looking at the ceiling, I replayed my words in my mind. “No, I didn’t,” I snorted bitterly.

“Yes, you did!” she giggled. “Holy shit, you like him!”

“No, I don’t!” I barked, getting defensive.

Gasping, her fingertips covered her opened mouth as she laughed. “Holy shit, you like Tyler.”

“Shut up, nuh uh.”

Her brows lifted and she closed her eyes, holding out her palms. “It’s okay, you don’t need to admit it. Just know I know, and we’ll leave it at that.”

Grumbling under my breath, I glared out at the yard and chugged a good portion of the beer. I did not like Tyler fucking Warren. I mean, yeah, he was turning out to be a pretty solid dude and, okay, so he was cool about things when I was questioning my sexuality and went to him with questions…and it was pretty fucking bad ass that he was able to look past what I did to him when he was eighteen…And yeah, he was kind of one of my favorite people these days, but that didn’t mean I liked him.

Clearing my throat, I wanted to change the subject. “So, can I ask you something a little…weird?” I asked, narrowing my sight.

“Sure,” she snickered.

“Since you’ve been here, have you…” I waved a hand around, my stomach knotted with embarrassment. “Seen…anything …weird?”

Her spine straightening, she blinked several times, her expression stoic. “You mean Mary.”

Taken aback, I gawked, my heart skipping a beat.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve seen her. Really freaked out the kids the first few nights. Almost had to leave, but Tyler let them sleep with us.”

My breathing labored, I gulped, my mouth going dry. “What the fuck? So, I’m not crazy.”