Page 27 of Project: FU (Longwood U #3)

“What’re you doing here?” Kelsey asks, her voice wary and slightly angry. I take a little sick satisfaction that she notes all the love marks on me.

“I didn’t realize you’d be here. I’m dropping off the rest of your things.” I shove the box into her arms. My eyes meet Tavis’ again briefly before I look at Rachel. “I’ll see you later. Thanks for inviting me in, but I should go.”

“You can stay,” Hannah says as she bounces at my side and grabs my forearm. “She’s finally stopped bitching.”

“Hannah,” Rachel chides.

“Come on. Every last one of you has used that word today. That’s what she’s doing.”

“He can’t stay,” Kelsey says.

“I don’t know. I think I’d like him to stay,” Orion says. He’s grinning when I meet his eyes.

I look at Tavis, a little desperate. What do I do right now? Insist on leaving or stay? Tell me what to do .

“Here,” Rachel says, handing me a tray of corn. “Bring these to Tavis while I talk to my daughter.”

My shoulders feel stiff as I cross the yard to set the tray on the table beside Tavis. His eyes look over my shoulder, and he turns back to the grill.

“You wanted to make sure she saw all those marks, huh?”

I fight my smile. “That’s just a happy coincidence. You didn’t tell me you didn’t have hockey tonight,” I hiss.

“I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t. Why did you have to leave when your watch went off? Why can’t you—” I don’t finish the question as my stomach flips.

He looks up over my shoulder and then meets my eyes. “We’re telling our kids we’re getting divorced,” he whispers, setting another plate in my hands. “I’m also telling them I’m seeing someone. I wanted to leave the night open for my kids. I don’t know how they’ll take either headline.”

My shoulders relax.

“I’m sorry,” he says, placing a couple finished burgers on the plate. “I didn’t realize we didn’t communicate better about tonight.”

“What’re you whispering about?” Orion asks as he gets closer.

“Whether I should be staying when I’m making Kelsey upset,” I answer.

“You should stay,” Orion says. I’m pretty sure that’s a flirty smile. “Make her look at your sexy bites. I don’t recall her ever leaving one.”

This is a really bad idea. I meet Tavis’ eyes, and he nods. His lips twitch as he tries not to smile over the comments about his bites on me. “Stay, Nolan.”

I swallow and nod, flashing Orion a smile. He doesn’t look suspicious, thankfully.

“Bring these to the table,” Tavis says. “I’m almost finished. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Thanks,” I say and turn with the tray in hand.

Skye and Hannah are watching me. I try to act as normal as possible, which is proving difficult since with each step, I’m reminded that I just had their father’s cock pounding my ass with such force it was like he was driving a railroad tie into the ground.

The remnants of this afternoon are on full display.

This is fine. I’m going to act surprised and sympathetic. I’m going to ignore Kelsey and talk to Orion, Skye, and Hannah. This is all fine.

I take a seat at the table beside Hannah. She’s grinning at me. “Hey,” she says. “You good, bro?”

Orion snorts. “I think it’s pretty obvious just how good he is.”

I laugh. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, I may be in high school, but when your sister is the slut of the local campus, it’s hard not to hear what she’s up to.”

“Ah. Yes, I’m good. Much, much better with her behind me.”

“That’s what she said,” Orion mutters and hides it with a cough when Rachel and Kelsey join us at the table.

They set dishes down and take their seats. I somehow end up with Tavis beside me. How serendipitous. Kelsey glares at me, but doesn’t say anything.

Thankfully, the conversation is light while we dish our plates and start eating. Kelsey doesn’t stop glaring at me, but for the most part, she doesn’t talk at all, though I love the way she’s staring at the bites on my skin. As eating winds down, Tavis sets his napkin on the table.

“There’s something your mother and I want to tell you,” Tavis says. “It’s impossible to get you all together or this conversation would have taken place a couple weeks ago.”

“Because someone is too selfish to think of other people,” Hannah mutters, glaring at Kelsey.

Kelsey rolls her eyes. “I have a life.”

“Enough,” Rachel snaps. “Sit quietly and listen.”

Kelsey hunkers down in her chair, but Hannah smirks at her.

“Your mother and I are getting divorced,” Tavis says.

Honestly, I’m a little surprised by the amount of surprise on the kids’ faces. Orion is the only one who doesn’t appear shocked by the news.

“What? Why?” Hannah asks, tears in her eyes.

“We should never have gotten married,” Rachel answers, causing the table further shock.

“There’s not a day that goes by that we regret our decision to make the four of you the center of our worlds, but there were different ways to have done that.

We were young and chose the one that society thought proper, given that we’d made four kids together. ”

“Wait. You never loved each other?” Kelsey asks.

“My childhood is a lie,” Skye mutters.

“Actually, there’s no one I’ve ever loved more than your mom,” Tavis says, his eyes flickering to mine briefly. “She’s always been my very best friend.”

“And that’s where it should have stayed,” Rachel says. “Sometimes, it’s not all roses and sugar marrying your best friend.”

“So you’re getting divorced,” Hannah repeats.

“Baby, we haven’t been together in years,” Rachel says quietly, reaching for her hand. “More than a decade. We’ve been going through the motions of living under the same roof, less than roommates, to maintain a sense of normalcy for you kids.”

“Not that I think you deserve to stay unhappy, but what changed? Why did you decide that you’re ready to divorce now?” Orion asks.

Rachel and Tavis exchange a look. Tavis doesn’t meet my eyes as he looks at his kids. “Because I met someone.”

“Shut up,” Kelsey says, horrified. “You’ve been cheating on Mom? How messed up is that?”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Hannah mutters. Orion snorts. Skye rolls his eyes. I press my lips together and cross my arms over my chest.

“What?” Kelsey snaps.

“Seriously? You don’t think kids at my school have access to the internet? The entire town knows what a slut you are. A cheating slut in the worst fucking way, Kelsey. I’ve seen things I can’t unsee!”

Kelsey’s eyes flicker around the table. Her chest rises and falls. I can tell by the way Rachel and Tavis look between the two of them that they’re caught between wanting to know and not wanting to know.

“Let’s go back to our divorce,” Rachel says after a tense minute. “Weirdly, that seems to be a less-heated topic.”

Is it, though? My gut twists. I have a feeling this is going to head in a direction that Tavis isn’t prepared for.