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When he sees the raw emotion on our faces, he reaches both of his hands out, one for her and one for me. Then he softly says, “Let’s get out of here.”
Rule #36: Sometimes, she just needs you to listen.
Clay
“How much of that did you see?” Jade asks as she buries her toes in the grass.
I brought them to one of my favorite secluded lookout points to talk. It’s a pull-off from the road that leads to a rocky cliff over the water below. It felt like the perfect place to be alone—without a bed. As much as I love taking these two to bed, right now, we don’t need the distraction of sex.
None of us said a word the entire drive, which I know was difficult, especially for Jade.
I pull a blanket from the trunk of my car and drape it over their shoulders, where they’re both sitting together on a fallen log most people use as a bench. “I saw it all.”
“Oh,” Jade replies, risking a glance up toward my face. She must be looking for a sign that I might be mad at her, which I’m not. In fact, I’m glad they had their fun without me around. As jealous as I was to hear about it, they needed their moment to be about them, not my voyeuristic gaze.
Although…if that’s the case, doing it in the voyeur room might not have been the right choice.
Eden and Jade were electric together. Far more than I expected. Nothing with them is ever soft or sweet. That was a full-out battle, and from the looks of it, they both won.
“We don’t need to talk about that right now,” I reply as I sit on the wooden log beside Eden.
I’m far more concerned with what I heardafterthe sex. Jade confessed her feelings, and Eden pushed her away. Or did she? It sounded as if there was so much more she wanted to say, and I know we’re both ready to hear it.
Jade and I both look at Eden. She holds her head up high, keeping her gaze on the water as the waves crash against the rocks below. Her chin is raised, and her eyes are free of makeup, I’m assuming from when she cried. I could hear her sniffling in the car. It broke my heart into pieces to hear it.
“I’m sorry,” Eden mumbles. It might be the first apology I’ve ever heard from her lips.
“You don’t have to apologize,” I say without hesitation. Because she doesn’t. Not for anything. Not for what happened between us back in November or what happened tonight with Jade.
“Yes, I do,” she replies quietly. “I thought I could push everyone out, but I’ve realized I was pulling you in at the same time. And that wasn’t fair to either of you.”
“I just want to understand,” I mumble softly. My hand is on her back, and with every shuddering breath she takes, I feel something inside me crumble. I hate her pain. I wish I could take it away and carry it for her. I know she’s strong, but I hate that she has to be.
“I’m ready to talk about it,” she says, staring at the grass in the moonlight. “But only you two. No one else can know.”
“Of course,” I reply, leaning toward her. Then I press my fingers against her jaw and draw her gaze to my face. “Hey,” I whisper. “It’s us. It’s okay.”
“You don’t have to tell us anything,” Jade says, drawing Eden’s attention to the other side.
“I know,” Eden replies.
“But youcan…when you’re ready,” Jade adds.
“I’m ready,” Eden says, turning her gaze back to the water. My eyes meet Jade’s for a moment, and we both put our arms around Eden, holding her between us.
Eden takes a deep breath through her nose and releases it through her lips. Then she starts.
“I was married to Jack’s father for almost seven years. We both came from the same small town, and we left together right after high school. I saw marrying him as a way out,” she says, taking a break to chew the inside of her cheek and compose herself.
Then she continues. “There was a time when I loved him, and I thought he loved me, but it was never that simple. I figured once we were out of our town and on our own, it would be easier to leave him if I wanted to.”
The air between us is so silent I can hear Jade breathing slowly as she watches Eden. My stomach gets tight and uncomfortable as Eden talks. I already know I’m not going to want to hear any of this.
“Things got worse gradually. I can’t pinpoint a single day when it became a nightmare. Slowly, over time, shoves became slaps. Slaps became punches. Instead of yanking me by my hair or grabbing my wrist, he started choking me until I thought I’d die or throwing me down the stairs.”
Bile rises in my throat, and I have to remind myself to breathe as she talks.
“He’d always apologize, of course. He’d grovel and beg me to forgive him. And I did…until the next time. And there was always a next time.”
