Page 57 of Ink Me Three Times
"Youreallylike her?" I say, my voice low and sharp. "That serious?"
Tim nods slowly, eyes narrowing at my tone. "Yeah. I mean… yeah. I didn’t think it’d be a problem. I asked you before, remember? You said it didn’t matter."
"Right," I snap. "Because I’m such a damn open book."
Tim frowns, setting his coffee down. "Mitchell, what the hell’s going on with you?"
And then Freddie, still blinking like he’s trying to process, finally speaks.
"Wait. Ivy? Something is going on with you and my nanny?"
"Yeah," Tim says. "That okay? I didn’t think it’d be an issue…"
Freddie scrubs a hand over his face. "Fuck."
"What?" Tim asks, eyeing him. "What now?"
Freddie hesitates.
Too long.
Then: "I slept with her, too.”
The silence this time isn’t thick.
It’s solid.
Tim turns toward him like he didn’t hear right. "What?"
Freddie’s jaw tightens. "It wasn’t… I didn’t know you were into her. I didn’t knoweitherof you were."
I stand up so fast the stool legs screech across the floor.
"So we’re just all fucking the same woman now?" I say, the words bitter in my mouth.
Freddie’s eyes harden. "I didn’tknow, Mitchell."
"Well maybe you could’ve asked!" I shout.
"Ihave been keeping my distance," he snaps back. "Because of Jesse. Because she works for me. I didn’t know I should keep away because of you guys too…"
"You should’ve said something," I cut in, venom in my voice. "You should’ve fucking said something, either of you."
Tim turns on me. "You told me it didn’t matter, Mitch! Don’t rewrite that now just because you’ve finally decided to grow a spine."
"Oh, screw you," I spit. "I didn’t know you really meant it. I thought you just wanted to get a rise out of me."
"You’ve got to be kidding me," Freddie mutters, throwing his hands up. "What is this? A fucking pissing contest over a woman none of us had the balls to be honest with?"
"Don’t," I growl. "Don’t reduce her to that."
"You just said we’re all fucking the same woman!" Freddie snaps. "So maybe don’t lecture me on respect."
The air crackles.
The kind of tension that can’t be softened with bagels or banter. The kind that threatens to explode into something ugly and permanent.
Tim steps forward, fists clenched. "You wanna fight, Mitchell? Is that what this is now?"
