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There’s a tense silence for a few seconds before Natalie and I scramble behind Nick as he pulls out his phone.
“I can’t believe Eric still gives you access to these,” I say as my brother logs into the security app for our parent’s house.
Nick shrugs. “Even if he didn’t, I’m sure I could hack it.”
He flicks through the cameras until he finds the one pointed right at the patio. My traitorous pussy clenches at the sight of the table.
“What time you think?” Nicks asks.
I shrug. “Start at eight and fast forward from there.”
“I can not believe I’m about to watch my best friend have sex with her brother-in-law. This isn’t on my bucket list,” Natalie says.
Something twists in my stomach, not liking how she phrased that. Even knowing that he wasn’t in a perfect marriage, he is still married. The small amount of coffee and food I ate are making me nauseous.
“Oh my god. I fucked my brother-in-law. My married brother-in-law,” I say, stepping back and clutching my stomach. My chest falls faster, and the floor seems to raise. Natalie grabs my arm, leaning me against the counter.
“Hey, Jen. Take a breath, you’re okay,” she says, running a comforting hand down my back. "If it helps, he's technically not your brother-in-law."
Nick clicks his phone off. “I can delete the footage.”
My eyes water and I nod, not wanting any evidence. If I ever show Jared the tapes, that isn’t one I want to get out.
“I think the biggest problem is to get ahead of Jared,” my brother continues.
I take a big breath and stand straighter, wiping away the drool that leaked out of my lips. “What do you mean?”
“Oh! I see what you mean. He’s going to make Jen the bad guy, the reason they broke up,” Natalie snaps her finger, pointing at Nick.
A laugh bubbles out of my throat. “He wouldn’t dare. You know I have the Holloway team at my back. That would be social suicide.”
They give me a pointed look, as if to remind me why we’re in this position to begin with. I squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten, wondering when my life became so fucked up and out of control. A part of it can be blamed on the route I took, but I don’t care because given the chance, I would fuck them all again.
“I’ll text Oliver about Brittany and then I’ll text Jared,” I say, annoyed that I have to play on the defensive now.
It took two hours to convince Jared to meet me in a public place, and he chose one of my favorite cafes. It’s where we had our first date and I haven’t been eager to return, but I refuse to give him my address.
He’s sitting in our booth, his attention out the window at the traffic on Main Street. I pause at the hostess stand, biting down on my tongue because I don’t want to cry at the sight. It hurts. It hurts so much that I used to love this man and he continues to do things to cause me more pain.
I settle across from him and he sits straighter, moving his hands onto the table and clasping them together. His eyes briefly flicker over the scarf wrapped around my throat, Oliver’s marks hidden underneath.
“Jen, hey,” he says softly, flashing the dimpled half-smile that used to make my stomach flutter.
Jared is an attractive man, and he’s always known that. He flaunted it plenty, and while I never had insecurities about my looks, it still made me feel special that he chose me when we were in high school.
“The more I see your new hair, the more it grows on me. I like it.” He chuckles as if it's a joke or something.
I cross my arms over my chest. “I didn’t get it for you.”
He licks his lip and shrugs. “I know. I’m just saying.”
“About last night…” I say, and the light in his eyes dulls. I look away, not out of guilt, but because I don’t care to be manipulated by his anger anymore. “I need something from you.”
“What?” he scoffs, the harsh retort making my heart drop. A reminder of the many times I’ve been on the side of his narcissistic comments.
“Bury it,” I say.
His brows knit together and he frowns. “So it’s true? I didn’t imagine it. You fucked my brother.”
