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I scoff, “Which part are you even referring to?”
She pauses using an ice cube to dampen the rim of the glass. “I guess I was talking about the whole dinner party thing, but I suppose there’s probably a few moments to choose from.”
I can’t help my snort. “Are there ever.”
“Care to fill me in while we imbibe?” Val asks as she expertly twirls the top of the glass in the container of salt.
Just then, Duke walks past one of the floor-to-ceiling windows leading into the backyard, and I don’t miss how he turns his head away from me.
“Never thought I’d get the cold shoulder from a dog.” I shake my head.
Val laughs, “Duke?”
“Yeah. I think he’s pissy about me running away yesterday.”
Val clunks ice into the cups. “You ran away?!”
* * *
“He’s not all bad.”Val’s grimace as she says it makes me laugh. “I mean, I get it. That’s pretty bad. But, like, in general, he’s pretty alright.”
“Pretty alright,” I repeat.
We’re on our third round of margaritas with partially full Chinese takeout containers littering the space around us.
I started the storytelling from the very first meeting at Mandi’s house, and our drinking has steadily increased since then. She knew there was something about Lee cheating and King and I getting married, but she’d apparently missed most of the gruesome details.
Val shared just a few bits of her own information, enough that I know she shares the same father as Aspen and King, and it’s clear they must take after him. I seem to remember King saying something about how theyfound out about Valback when all the Alliance stuff went down. And I’m not sure what he meant by that, but even with all the stuff I’m sharing, it didn’t feel right to ask.
But I did find out that Val is twenty-five,twenty years younger than King, which made me realize I hadn’t known how old my husband was. But now I do.
When I got to the part in the story where I ran away, I decided to stay vague. I don’t know how much she knows about what King really does, so I just said that Ioverheard somethingand ran before I found out that I’d misunderstood. And that King brought me back home.
Home.
I also left out the part about Dom and his apartment and the sex, because that might be a little too much information.
“You gotta know that none of it was your fault.” Val’s head lolls to the side, so she’s looking at me. “You couldn’t have known that Leland was married.” We pulled a pair of the Adirondack chairs inside, that had been around the firepit, and situated them in front of the big windows. This way we could enjoy the sunset in the comfort of the air-conditioned room and not worry about bugs.
Val waves a hand around as she continues. “And Aspen will get over it eventually. She doesn’t really hate you. She just needs time to accept that you didn’t know, when you,you know…”
I roll my lips together, then give in to the urge to tell someone.
“I never slept with him,” I blurt out.
Val’s brows furrow. “King? I wouldn’t expect you––”
I cut her off. “Lee, er, Leland.” I don’t feel like explaining that yes, I have already slept with King. “I never slept with Leland.”
Her mouth drops open. “But, I thought… Hadn’t you guys been dating for a while?” She shakes her head. “I don’t mean that there’s like a time limit. And don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to bang Leland either…” She fakes a gag.
I want to gag, too.
After having King between my legs… I can’t even imagine having sex with a man likeLeland.
“We’d only gone out three times.” I did let him kiss me after the second date, and even though there was no tongue, I decide that’s a detail I’ll take to my grave. “He was starting to get kinda pushy about it, honestly, and I was planning to break it off with him that day.”
“I hate pushy men,” Val murmurs. “But wait, if you didn’t sleep with him, then why is Aspen so riled up? I mean, obviously, fuck her husband for cheating, sex or no sex, because I kinda doubt this was his firstindiscretion. But she shouldn’t bethisriled up.”