Page 20 of Heartless
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “That’s not for me to speak on. But we can talk about it, if you want.” I tentatively sat on the far corner of the mattress.
Tess looked hesitant, fingers curled over the bedspread. “Promise you won’t tell anyone? Not any of your men, even Reaper. And definitely not my ex-husband.”
“Nothing you tell me will leave this room.” I moved to sit in front of her, reaching for her hands. “So, what’s going on?”
“So I wasn’t completely honest with you and Reaper,” Tessa picked at the comforter on her lap, “when I talked about separating.”
“What do you mean?”
“This didn’t just happen out of nowhere. Andrea and I have a…a connection that Big G doesn’t like. We have for years.”
I nodded calmly. “A romantic connection, I take it?”
“Yeah, I…had feelings for her before, a long time ago, that are kind of rekindling now.” She swallowed nervously. “There was, uh, an incident a couple years back.”
“A, uh,” I cleared my throat, “sexual incident?”
“Notexactly, and we didn’t cheat on our guys or anything. They were there. It’s just, fuck.” She slapped her palms to her cheeks too late, they were already reddening. “I’m just digging myself into a hole here.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I scooted further up the bed and took her hands, rolling my thumbs over the back of her palms in an attempt to soothe her. “You’re my friend, Tess. I won’t judge.”
“Really?” She looked skeptical.
“Hon, I sleep with, and am basically married to,threeguys. I’m the last person that should be judging you.”
“But…Andrea and I are women. People have been killed for that.”
I nodded my head toward the door I had just come through. “I’d like to see someone try. There’s at least three men downstairs who would cut through anyone trying to harm you for loving another woman.”Four, if you include mine sitting with them.
The worry eased slightly in Tessa’s brow, a small smile coming to her lips. “The Sons are good allies. They’re staying in rooms here too, and have essentially appointed themselves as our bodyguards. They eat with us downstairs, come with us on errands. It has helped to alleviate the gawking and dirty looks.”
“See?” I told her. “I can’t even imagine what they’ve had to face. It’s sweet of them to want to protect you from that.”
“It’s amazing,” Tessa mused. “They’re so openly affectionate with each other. They don’t care who sees, they just are who they are.”
“They love each other,” I said. “And the fact that they’re all men doesn’t matter, they’re fucking adorable together. No one deserves to be killed over that.” I squeezed her hand again. “Had you dated women before Big G?”
“I had a girlfriend in high school,” she admitted, her worried frown returning. “I loved her, but her family was set on moving away when the Collapse got real bad. We thought it would be safer to break up. People used to yell horrible slurs at us, and anyway,” she sighed, wiping quickly at her eyes, “I liked guys too and wanted to start a family. I thought Big G was the person I needed.”
“What happened to make him so upset about Andrea?” I asked gently.
Tessa blew out a long breath. “So, there was a party one night, a couple years back in Sheol. Dallas, Andrea, G, and I all went back to their place afterwards. We got the kids set up for a sleepover upstairs while us adults continued drinking downstairs.” Her throat worked nervously. “At some point, Andrea kissed me. It was a super quick peck on the lips, practically nothing. We were drunk and being silly. But Dallas was into it and encouraged us to kiss some more.”
“And Big G?” I pressed.
“That’s what pisses me off so much. He acted like he was into it too.” She brought a hand to her chest. “I remember feeling so elated and relieved. Like yes, my husbanddoesaccept and love me, even though I’m also attracted to women. It felt like a huge weight off my chest.”
Anger heated inside me on her behalf. “But that turned out not to be the case?”
She shook her head. “Two-faced bastard. I must have asked him like ten times if he was seriously okay with it. Even then, we kept things pretty tame. Andrea and I made out for a little while, then she and Dallas went off to fuck. As soon as G and I were alone, he did a complete fucking 180.”
“Jesus.” My chest ached for her. “What a betrayal. I’m so sorry, Tess.”
“He berated me, accused me of all these awful things, called me names.” Her voice cracked. “It was exacerbated because he was drunk, of course. Not that that fucking excuses it. I trusted him, and it hurt so bad. So yeah, he’s always pitched a fit any time she and I happened to be alone. Nothing happened since that night, but he didn’t care. Not even the death of her husband was a good enough reason for me to spend time with her, even just as friends.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” I reached over and rubbed her arm. “If Andrea makes you happy, you’re much better off with her.”
Her face lit up for the first time since telling me her story. “Thank you for being supportive, Mari. It’s still tough, you know. She loved Dallas so much, and she’s never been with a woman before. We’re taking it slow, but it’s nice. We’re able to comfort each other. Take turns watching each other’s kids. It feels so good, being with someone who listens and justunderstandsme. Even if it’s just a temporary thing, we’ll always be there for each other in one way or another.”
