Page 13 of The Lies You Love
“Everyone wants to know. Tell us about last night. What did she look like under the grandma get up?” Ronan asks, trying to change the subject.
I exhale noisily and run a hand through my hair. If I clam up, they’ll know something is amiss, but spilling too many details feels wrong. I want to keep Auden to myself, and now there are multiple reasons. “She was hot,” I deadpan, lifting and lowering my shoulders. “Have you talked to Tess this morning?”
His bride-to-be can’t be happy about the festivities last night. He was piss drunk both times she called to check in.
Ronan groans. “She’s pissed. but she went buck wild at her bachelorette, so I know she’ll get over it.” The look in his eyes isn’t convincing. “Hot and what else?”
“It was a one-night stand,” I argue. “What more is there to say other than she was hot and I got my dick wet.”
Griffin is watching me intently, while Ronan just looks jealous. “I’ll never see her again. It was a scavenger hunt conquest. I’ll find another chick tonight.” It’s what I’d usually do on my month off, but after last night I’m certain nothing else will stack up. Ramsey’s best friend.
“One that doesn’t look like a grandma.” I add the last sentence to lighten the mood.
Griffin narrows his eyes. “How are your parents? Your brother-in-law? It’s been a while since we caught up.” He’s throwing me a bone, but not really. Talking about my family is a pain in my ass, too.
“It’s been exactly a month since we caught up last,” I say, grinning. “It’s always a month.”
There is downtime when I’m on shift with Ramsey but I choose to keep my lives separate because it helps me perform better on the job. “Mom and Dad are okay. Stef is living with them, still trying to pick up the pieces.”
My sister, Maisey, was struck by a stray bullet in a bank robbery. She died after a week on life support, and the criminal was never caught. Her death, the life I couldn’t protect, is the reason I became a Charge Man. If I can protect the innocent as my career, maybe I can forgive myself for not saving the one person who meant the most to me. My brother-in-law has been hospitalized in a mental institution multiple times since her death. Stefan was a romantic. One of those people who believe there is one person for everyone, and when lightning strikes, it only hits once, deep and true. In his eyes, there’s no one else for him. Maisey was that woman for him, and struggling to overcome his loneliness and embrace it for a lifetime doesn’t sit well. Stefan and my family are in Texas, far away from me. Honestly, I should have taken this month to visit them instead of my usual itinerary. If I had, I wouldn’t have fucked myself over with Auden.
“Mom said Stef went back to college.” I clear my throat. “He wants to do something completely different now.”
Griffin’s face turns somber. “He and Maisey worked together, right?”
I nod and gulp down the water the waitress set down in front of me. “They both were financial advisers at the same firm,” I explain. “It wasn’t enough to move companies. He is trying to erase his whole life to start over. My parents are forcing him to try everything in an attempt to get him out of the house regularly. His parents left a lot to be desired, you know. Thank God, my parents are looking out for him.” Stefan is the son I couldn’t be. One who is always around.
“No friends?” he asks. Ronan has keyed into our conversation and also looks sad.
I fucking hate this, but they’re the only people I have to talk about things that happen outside of the Charge Men. This is the only version of my life I can offer. Unfortunately, it’s a shit show.
I press my lips together, wondering if I’d prefer to talk about Auden. “They shared a friend group, too, so it’s too hard for him. Maybe eventually, when he gets past the immediate breakdown, he’ll try to go back to them.”
I know he won’t. Stefan and I are similar in a few ways, the worst though? We’re both stubborn to a fault. We make a decision and stick with it.
“Why don’t you have him up here? The city is good for the soul.”
“I’ve invited. More than once. I’m sure there’s something here that reminds him of Maisey. I don’t know, man. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want help. Eventually, he’ll realize the whole world moved on without him in it and he’ll face the truth. I’m going to visit for a weekend before I go back on shift.”
It might break him, but he’ll have to face it. There isn’t one person for everyone, there isn’t even ten. It’s this vast sea of swarming bodies that sometimes collide into one another. It could be fire or ice, but there’s always another just around the corner. As much as I miss my sister and blame myself in a weird way for being a protector and not protecting her, I know you have to move on. Life is too short to dwell in grief.
They both nod. “Tell him I was asking about him,” he says genuinely.
“I will,” I reply.
“Tell your mom I was asking about her, too,” he also adds.
I pull a face. “Fuck you, Griff.” Glancing over my shoulder, I see our food coming. A reprieve from the conversation. “Finally. I’m starving.”
Everyone eats, we talk about plans for the day which if left to Griffin include more alcohol and strippers. Tomorrow is golf. Ronan looks unimpressed. He wants to be home with Tess. That’s how you know you’re ready to be locked down forever. You’d rather be with your woman instead of with your friends doing things you’d always loved doing in the past. The last celebration before a wedding should be something different, something less nefarious and blackout. At least for Ronan, it should.
Swallowing a huge bite, I gesture to Griffin. “Why don’t we just golf today and tomorrow. That’s what Ronan would want to do.” It was by sheer brute force that he got as drunk as he did last night. Shot after shot turned into the drunken massacre that was last night at the bar.
Griffin shakes his head, about to argue, but his eyes light on the door. I turn my gaze to see what’s captured his attention so abruptly. My heart thrums, and I feel a sheen of sweat break across my forehead.
Ronan’s gaze is hot on me from the other side of the table. “You’re green in the face, man, see a ghost?” he says.
No, I’m witnessing a nightmare. Ramsey and Auden stroll in arms linked and eyes aimed like weapons at our table. My worlds collide. What terrifies me more than introducing Auden as my granny to my friends is the look in Ramsey’s eyes. I know what it means—her sights locked on Ronan, labeling him prey, her next meal. Auden sees me a moment after Ramsey targets Ronan. Out of all the restaurants in all of the pockets of these neighborhoods, they chose the same one we’re at.
