Page 533 of End Game

I keep going anyway. “He cheated on me. More than once. I stayed too long, finally left him, and somehow I still ended up being the difficult one. Too emotional. Too needy. Too jealous. Too much.”

Griffin's fingers tighten around mine.

I don't look at him. “If you look at me now—happy, supported, safer than I have ever been—and your first instinct is still to find the person tolerating me?”

Mom's eyes shine. “That isn't fair.”

“Neither was believing him.”

Silence.

Dad rubs one hand over his face. “Sweetheart, I don't think either of us handled that well.”

Mom looks at him.

He doesn't take it back.

My throat closes.

Fuck.

I wasn't prepared for that either.

Dad looks at me. “But this still feels… unstable.”

There it is.

Not cruel.

Almost worse.

Honest.

“Five people is complicated.”

“Yes.”

“Relationships between everybody can get me—”

“Yes.”

“That's a lot of opportunities for someone to get hurt.”

“Also yes.”

Dad seems surprised I agree.

I lean back slightly. “We fight. Feelings get hurt. We have jealousy sometimes. We have schedules that require a group calendar and apparently now a legal planning committee.”

Clay snorts.

I glance at him. “Helpful.”

“Sorry.”

Mom presses her hands together. “And you really think this is permanent?”

“I don't know what is permanent.”