Page 73 of Too Cursed To Kiss
“He does?” I asked over my shoulder as I walked into the kitchen. The fridge had condiments and nothing else, but the cupboard held a variety of crunchy salty snacks and a package of the death-by-cookies. I took those and a bag of pretzels. The chips were all BBQ. Great, looks like I was getting a sugar rush with my drunkenness. I returned to the couch with my treasure haul and ripped open the bag of sandwich cremes.
“Cookie?” I asked, biting into one. It crumbled, falling topieces in my lap. I ate those first, then picked off the crumbs which had tumbled down the front of my dress. “Want to tell me how you betrayed Wald?”
“Cutting straight to it, are you?” Soda hid a grin behind a delicate sip of her drink. “Why not. I find talking about the past soothing. What Wald saw as betrayal, I considered a natural end to what wasn’t meant to be. It’s not complicated. We were involved, but he was more serious about it than I was. We built this house to be close to the elements. It worked for him, but it didn’t for me.”
I choked on a cookie and doubled over in a coughing fit. Throwing back some of the bourbon to clear my throat, I squeaked out, “You built this house with him?” Why the hell was I so upset? He had a past. Everyone had a past. If Soda was Wald’s type, I was as far from it as cookies and milk. I’d never built a house with anyone.
“Wald prefers to be with one lover at a time. He was clear about that. I was also clear. We tried a few things to make the rules bend on both sides. I got bored with that and decided to accelerate things. I invited a few people over, and he walked in and was displeased.”
“A few people?”
“Five other couples. It was a festival night, and I thought we could share beds. Wald thought otherwise. He ordered my guests to leave before he found me in bed with the last couple. He refused to join in and became belligerent. He ordered me out and cursed me never to return.”
I nibbled on a cookie almost afraid to ask. “Cursed?”
Soda waved her delicate hand through the air. “A verbal curse. It didn’t have magic, but it still meant a lot to me. He knew how deeply it cut. He considered it a breach of trust. I wasn’t angry. I was disappointed. I loved him and this house we’d built. But I had another future. So did he.” Sheeyed me over the rim of her glass. “How did you meet him?”
“Long story,” I said, hiding a maniacal smile behind the tumbler, sending more bourbon searing down my throat, followed by one more cherry for a dopamine hit.
Three inches of bourbon and four more cherries in, I decided I really liked Soda and that her name was a good choice. She was effervescent. I’d gotten up the courage to ask about why she seemed so pet-able about the time Britannia walked in.
Britannia stopped in the hall and surveyed us. She held up her phone and took a photo. “How sweet, the old and new passing the torch. Did you friend each other yet? Exchange emails?” she asked, glancing up and down from her phone. She was probably posting the photo somewhere.
I jumped up and growled, “About time you got here. Wald’s in the bedroom. Shut up and go help him.” Her outfit was another runway worthy black delight with a corset top, buckles across the stomach, a short, pleated kilt-style skirt in green, and knee high leather boots with a matching corset lacing up the front.
She sneered, considering me for a moment, then went over to Soda. Soda stood up and hugged her. They lingered a little too long for me not to wonder, but when Britannia kissed Soda on the cheek, I had a flash of what-if. Britannia’s smirk at me as she pranced cat-walk style into the bedroom nailed it home.Ew.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Iwas so annoyed Britannia and Soda liked each other. It was like being the third wheel in a whole new bizzarro teledrama. “So, you and Britannia were friends? I mean, are you friends?”
“Friends sure, lovers more so.” Soda’s smile lit up her eyes. It was obvious she’d been in love with Britannia at some point.
I silently screamed, imagining them in bed. I walked over to the bar and poured another inch of bourbon, then slammed it back. It was going down smoother now, but I’d have a wicked hangover if I didn’t get food that wasn’t cookies. I did not want to imagine Britannia’s tongue down Wald’s throat, but of course now that was all I could see.
Britannia came out of the bedroom and poured herself a vodka. She tossed back the entire contents of the glass, then poured another, and turned toward us. Her jaw was rigid, and her eyes glassy as she drank the second glass and pressed the back of her hand to her lips. Her eyes locked with Soda’s.
“Oh my Goddesses,” Soda trilled and jumped up, running into the bedroom.
My breath caught in my chest as my brain caught up. Something terrible had happened. My skin went cold, and time slowed. Britannia stared at me, tears glistening in her eyes. “This is all your fucking fault.” Then she turned away to pour herself another vodka.
I tore across the room and froze at the bedroom door. Soda was sobbing over Wald’s chest.
He wasn’t hers.
He wasn’t anyone’s now. That choked me.
I approached the bed slowly, sobs caught in my throat like balls of white bread. I reached out to touch him, but I couldn’t make myself do it. The red and black claw marks were gone. I mean not gone, but there were ghostly scars where I knew they had been. He’d been healing. What the hell had happened?
He couldn’t be dead. Not Wald. He’d promised.
Was I more upset that my ticket to normalcy was dead or my future boyfriend?
“How?” I asked, my voice cracking. Soda ignored me and sobbed louder. I crossed my arms, running through theWhat happens next? options. I touched Soda’s bare shoulder. Her skin was softer than any skin I’d ever felt, including Wald’s. That revelation made me angrier, or sadder, depending on how you looked at it. Wild irrational fury ripped through me.
“Get off him,” I said, grabbing her arm and yanking her up. She weighed far less than I did, but the muscles in her shoulder flexed with power. I stepped back as she stood, her turquoise eyes wet with tears.
Of course she was the kind of person who looks fabulouswhen they cry. For a split second, I was glad Wald was dead. I was being unkind, but she was the ex, and she’d slept with Britannia, and Wald was dead, and I was now ranting in my head. “How can he be dead?”
