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I’m a few drinks in when I finally open my mouth and let the entire sordid story fall from my lips. Brianna now knows why I left. She knows that Shane and I are married. She even knows everything I’ve been through since leaving. And I mean everything.
She looks absolutely horrified at the last bit of the story. I don’t blame her. I half expected her to call me a whore and never speak to me again. She does the total opposite. She even threatens to hunt Nick down herself.
“That cunt.” She hisses. “Of all the shitty things she’s done over the years, fucking Shane has to be the worst.” We’re now back on the subject of Autumn. “And I can’t believe he’d cheat on you.”
“I never thought he would either, and I know he wasn’t in the right headspace back then, but..”
“But that’s no excuse for his dick to go wandering.” Brianna finishes.
“I can’t get his face out of my head, though. When I confronted him, he didn’t know what I was talking about. And when I showed him the video, he turned green.”
“Sick with the guilt of being caught.” Brianna muses.
“I don’t think so,” I reply. “Something just isn’t adding up.”
Brianna sighs. “Do you remember when we were sixteen, and we went to the beach for the entire summer?”
“I do.”
“Do you recall the argument you and Autumn had a few days before we came home?”
I think about it for a minute. I met a boy at the beach that summer. Noah. He was cute and sweet and we spent a ton of time together. We even talked about keeping in touch after we left.
Then there was a huge bonfire that we all went to. I remember thinking I’d probably lose my virginity that night. Instead, I got a tattoo from some college guy that was there.
While I was busy, Autumn had snuck off with Noah and fucked him in the back seat of his jeep. She came back to the party all smug and smiling. When Brianna asked her why she was so happy, she didn’t hesitate to tell both of us.
“The bonfire,” I say as I pull myself from the memories.
“The bonfire,” Brianna repeats. “Is it possible that Autumn somehow tricked Shane into having sex with her?”
“You think she raped him?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. What do you think?.”
“I think she was always jealous of me and that everything I had she wanted,” I answer honestly.
If I bought a new top, she would throw a pity party until I gave it to her. If I made a new friend, she wanted to be their friend as well. And every time I mentioned a boy, she ended up dating him before I had the chance.
“Holy shit. She did it on purpose.” I say, having an epiphany. "But rape? She said she and Shane had been fucking for years, even before that day."
“Maybe. I know that she and Shane hooked up a few times before you decided you wanted to be with him.”
So what? She fucked him as payback? Or did I steal him from her? “That doesn’t matter. We loved each other. She was just something to pass the time.”
“Yes. And if she felt slighted, what do you think she’d do? Especially since she seemed to always want what you had.” Brianna makes a good point. One I never thought about. "Autumn is a conniving bitch. Always has been."
I switch from the rum and cola I’ve been drinking to water while we continue to talk. So much is clearer to me now. But what do I do? Where does this leave Shane and me?
“None of that holds any bearing on today. It’s been six years. I left without a word, taking his child with me.” I reiterate.
“But you thought he’d betrayed you. You thought he’d betrayed your vows.”
That is true. And, indeed, Shane never would have willingly cheated on me. But I can’t do anything without more details. How do I get them?
Like a light bulb going off above my head, it comes to me suddenly. “I need your help,” I tell Brianna seriously.
I tell her the plan. It’s a good one. Autumn always loved to brag about her sexcapades. She loved boasting more about all her shitty behavior toward me. If anyone can get her talking, it’s Brianna.
