“Never mind all that?” She’s smirking at me now.
“Never mind all that. Everyone in this house is dangerous. Every one of us has a reason to lie. We’re trying to win some elusive prize and we’ll do whatever it takes to take it home.”
“What prize am I here for?”
“Lauren.”
Sasha lets out a breath. “He’s not getting her.”
“Of course not.”
“She’s mine. Ours,” she stresses.
“Of course she is. And my girls are not going to be triggered by some insane asshole who doesn’t even know if he’s coming or going. But…”
“I get it,” she says, cutting me off.
“This looks…” I shrug. “Fine, I guess. We’re all here, having some nice little Company reunion. But we’re pretending, Sasha. And so are they. You need to put the past behind you, create a conversation with Nick Tate, and figure out what the fuck he’s up to. Because he’s here for a reason, and it’s not the one we think. It’s about Wendy. Find out what he’s hiding about Wendy.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN - INDIE
Late summer is my favorite time of year. I love the stifling heat. I love the way people are so sick of it, it’s starting to drive them a little crazy. And back when I was a kid, I used to love going to church with Adam in August. All those people, praying for their souls even though they know damn well they’re nothing but a bunch of lying, cheatin’ so-and-sos just like everyone else. But they dress up all fancy—even I did this—and they bat their paper fans at their sweaty faces. Late summer feels like you’re living in Hell, even when you’re in church, and I love it.
Right now, Wendy, Nathan, and I are all crammed together on my swing. Sweaty bodies in the summer. That’s what I like about it. Skin on skin all slick and shiny. I turn my head and Wendy is right there. Close enough to kiss.
We giggle. And I hear myself say, “I wish you had lived here with us. We would’ve had so much fun.”
The word ‘fun’ can go so many ways. Would we have had fun playing in the woods like kids? Or would it’ve been the kind of fun that came later? Private fun. Grown-up fun.
Wendy blushes, because I’m talking about grown-up fun and she knows how to read between my lines.
It’s Nathan who makes me think this way. He’s just so fucking big, and strong, and bossy, and sexy. And he’s always been these things, even when he was quiet.
Nathan has expectations of me. Much like McKay, in a way. But different.
We’re different when the swamp takes over.
We’re other people. Not ourselves. We live fever dreams in the garden of good and evil. You have to choose sides in the swamp, and no one in their right mind would choose against it. It’s a flow that we go with. Like the current of the river. It’s just… it’s just the swamp.
And Wendy is just like us. Just like Angelica was. So she would fit right in.
“Wendy?”
Nick Tate’s voice enters my head like fog on a misty morning. There’s nothing concrete about it. Nothing firm. It’s all just all blurry, and fuzzy, and round.
“Wendy.” He says it again, and this time it’s clearer. I’m watching Nathan. He’s sitting up, grabbing the two ropes with both fists, making us swing, back and forth, back and forth. He’s not listening to Nick either. He’s looking at me, and at Wendy, and he’s smiling that smile.
This is when I realize—things are gonna get interesting.
“Wendy!”
This time all three of us snap out of it and look at him. “Come and join us,” I say, patting a sliver of swing to my right. There is no possible way Nick Tate is gonna fit on this swing with us, but isn’t that the whole point? To be squished together. Skin on skin all sweaty and shiny in the late summer swamp.
“No, thank you,” Nick says. Then he nods to Wendy. “Come on. We’re gonna eat.”
Wendy doesn’t hesitate. Both Nathan and I notice this because we shoot each other a look. She simply untangles herself from me, awkwardly climbs off the bench, and practically falls into Nick’s chest. He smiles at us. “We’ll see ya around,” he says. And then he leads Wendy away towards the house.
“What’s that about, you think?” Nathan asks. And he’s different now. The way he was always different back then, too.
“I’m not sure. You’d know better than me.” I’m saying that because Nate and Nick used to work together. Well, together is actually a generous word. Nick barked orders, Nathan was supposed to follow them.
“Not really,” Nate says. “He was always lying to me.”
I sit up and look at my handsome best friend. I call him my husband, but it’s never been official. We need to make it official. Wendy and Nick made it official. How did that happen? How did she make it happen? I really need to quiz her on that stuff. Later, though. Right now, we’ve got other things to think about. Like this lying stuff. “What do you mean?” I ask Nathan.