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5
Tal
"Let's see here." Marsh scratches his beard, his eyes bright and alive. "That little stay at my exclusive, recently renovated hotel is going to set you back…two thousand dollars."
I peer down at the board and shake my head. "What the fuck? How do you own almost everything?"
Marsh fans his face with that annoying property card. "Because I'mthatgood."
"Okay, okay. I fold," I grumble, looking at my measly cash holdings.
What can I say? I'm better with real money than I am at playing a board game. Plus, I've been majorly distracted ever since Marsh mentioned during our walk he had something to tell me tonight. Something that he needs to get blind drunk to tell me, apparently.
What the hell could it be?
"You fold in cards, not Monopoly," he says with a self-satisfied grin. "Youloseat Monopoly, and theloserhas to buy thewinnerdrinks all night."
"Deal." I fall back onto the sofa and let out a loud yawn. "You win. I lose."
"So gracious in defeat." Marsh gets up off the floor and plonks himself next to me. His hand lands on my leg. "How you holding up?"
Another yawn. "Fine."
"I scheduled some downtime this afternoon in case you needed a nap or anything."
I throw him an unimpressed look. "I'm not that old."
"I didn't say you're the only one who could do with a nap. I enjoy an afternoon siesta every once in a while now that I've hit my forties. Especially when it's coming down as hard as it is."
The snow picked up shortly after we returned from our hike, and the windows are almost completely white.
"Are you going to have some shut-eye, then?" I ask.
"I will if you will."
I place my hand over his, which is still on my leg. "Well if you're going to rest, and I'm going to rest, why don't we rest together?"
* * *
That's how I end up in Marsh's bed with my arms wrapped around his strong body. I've got him bundled in close against me, his heart beating against my forearm, his thick brown hair tickling my nose.
The fucker's fallen asleep.
Meanwhile, I'm wide awake, my mind racing at a million miles an hour, trying to guess what he's going to tell me that's so bad he needs to be blackout drunk to say it.
I've ruled out a few possibilities, like him being sick or something being wrong with his brothers. As bad as both of those things would be, there's no reason why he couldn't tell me about them without getting obliterated.
Which has led me to something maybe not as bad, but potentially more heart-wrenching…at least for me.
What if Marsh has found someone?
What if Marsh has found someone, and he's told him about me, and the guy is insecure or possessive or whatever and is like, "I don't want you hanging out with him."
What if Marsh has found someone, and he's told him about me, and the guy is insecure or possessive or whatever and is like, "I don't want you hanging out with him," and Marsh is conflicted because on the one hand he likes the guy, but on the other hand, he doesn't want to end our friendship, so he needs to get inebriated to tell me in the hopes that I'll do the right thing and tell him to choose his new partner over me.
But would I tell him that?
Could I?
