Page 91 of Reverse Pass

“I don’t fucking know, Nora. She didn’t say in so many words, she just doesn’t want to be with me. We were gonna tell you guys this weekend and then she panicked this morning and told you there’s nothing going on. Then Cameron shows up… I’m over it. If this was one of my friends, I’d tell them to move on and find someone else.”

“Are you sure it just wasn’t overwhelm from all of us? I mean, I get her being nervous. If she had a brother and I was fucking him, I’d be nervous as hell about telling her or her parents.”

“Mom is not anything close to her parents and the way they are.”

“No, but you are mom’s baby boy, and she knows that.”

I roll my eyes.

“So you wouldn’t give her another chance?”

“I don’t see the point. She’s been pretty clear how she feels. Besides, you think Cameron would be here if he didn’t think he had a chance?”

“Cameron is a delusional narcissist who thought he could put Violet up on a shelf and come back and get her when he was ready. He doesn’t factor what she wants into what he does. I wouldn’t factor anything he does or doesn’t think into what you do.”

I shrug and shake my head because I don’t know what else to say.

“Also, she’d be an idiot to pick him over you, and Violet is a lot of things, but she’s not an idiot.”

“Thanks, I think.” I frown at my empty glass.

“Love you.” She wraps her arms around me and gives me a tight hug, and I return it.

“Love you too.”

Then she disappears into the house, and I’m left alone with my thoughts again. Ones that just keep returning to the same woman who’s in the house right now with her would-be fiancé.

TWENTY-NINE

Violet

The secondI see Nora’s face; I know someone has told her. I know she knows, and the dread wells up inside my chest as she nods for me to follow her upstairs. I follow behind her, slowly trudging up the stairs because I don’t think I can handle any more confrontational encounters today.

We get to her room, and she shuts the door behind us, turning around to look at me.

“If you’re going to kill me, just make it quick, okay? It’s been a long one.” I sigh as I sit down on the edge of the bed.

“I’m not going to kill you. Just lecture you a little about lying to your childhood best friend.”

“I mean, if you think about it, I spared you. Did you really want to hear that I was sleeping with your brother before you finished your first cup of coffee?”

“Not exactly, but of the two of you I think I would have preferred hearing it from you.”

“I’m sorry. Honestly, Nora. I should have told you a while ago. It’s my fault.”

“Well, I forgive but I don’t forget. Gonna be pretty hard to erase the mental images conjured up by it.” She shakes her head.

“Again, sorry. But just to be clear, I did not pursue him or seduce him.”

“You were the senseless victim of his wit and charm?” She looks at me like she can hardly believe it.

“I mean, that and other things. Do you really want to be asking these questions?”

“Probably not. He gave me enough insight already.”

“So he told you?”

“No. It was obvious. The two of you are so obvious to anyone who knows you well enough. He just confirmed it when I twisted his arm.”