My anger spikes and blood boils. “You get one phone call, Nicole, one, and this is the direction you want to take. You want to play a victim here?” Hostility drips from my words. “You’ve been blowing up my fucking phone for weeks. The only reason I answered is because I’m sick of my voicemail being clogged up with your messages.”
“If you’ve gotten my messages, you know how messed up this is.” There’s a tint of aggravation in her voice.
“I didn’t say I listened to them, just that they clogged up my voicemail.”
“Really, Devon, that’s extremely immature. We need to talk this out, woman to woman. Friendships are at stake. You have no idea the way Tommy respects Bryce. It’s up to us to work through this.” Her sweet and pitiful demeanor changes quick. Now, her voice is filled with irritation.
What the fuck?
Apparently, Quinn feels the same way by her growl.
“Does Tommy beat you, Nicole?”
“No, of course not.”
“Does he threaten you, or do you fear for your or TJ’s safety?”
“Never.”
“Does he control you? Your actions, your responses, your ability to tell right from wrong?”
“You know he doesn’t. Why even ask?”
“So when he told you it was none of your business where Bryce slipped his dick, what was your first thought?”
“That it was none of my business.”
“Wrong answer. First and foremost, throwing down an air mattress to a drunk man who is being stalked by a co-worker is the WRONG thing to do.”
“You wait a minute. I’m not at fault here. If you listened to us that night, you heard that I felt sorry for you. I was sick about it—
“No!” I cut her off. “You fucked up in many ways, alcohol induced or not. Here’s the situation. I’m a forgiving person, but not this time. We may not have years of friendship like you do with the others, but you knew how I felt about Liza. You saw the signs yourself. I believed you were looking out for me and understood my insecurities. Yet you found yourself in the middle and then on the wrong side. How can I ever trust you? ”
“Are you blaming me for this? I’m not the one lying half naked with another woman in bed. You have misdirected resentment.”
Her words sting as the image pops into my head, but I don’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she’s hit a nerve
“Can you believe this?” Quinn scoffs, pointing to the phone. “Nicole, what exactly did you think you’d accomplish here?”
“I thought I’d be able to have a civil conversation with a friend to tie up a misunderstanding. Funny, I didn’t think I’d be back in high school on speaker phone.”
“Remember when I told you Bryce was protective of Devon? Think the words I used were ‘he’d go ballistic if anyone insulted her’. Well, you’re insulting her now.”
“Hardly, I’m trying to move past this.”
“Nicole,” I sigh, “if it’ll make you feel better to apologize then do it. Otherwise, we don’t have anything else to say.”
“What the hell do I have to apologize for?” she spouts back. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
I’m done with this conversation, but Bryce’s face pops into my mind, and I think about what he’d do in the situation. He’d make a point to take the high road and leave no room for misinterpretation. As much as I’d like to cut her off, I take a deep breath and choose my words carefully.
“You’re right, Nicole. You’re way too defensive to understand why I’ve lost trust in you and your judgment.”
Quinn opens her mouth, but I give her a sideways glance and then a small shake of my head.
“But I’d like to explain something to you. If the situation was ever reversed, Bryce and I would not condone cheating in our home. In my mind, you may not have been at fault except you knew it was going on. You thought you walked in on it then you acted like things were normal. Regardless how sorry you felt for me, I can’t see myself moving on.”
“That’s it?”