Page 43 of Wicked

“For her. She didn’t want to be away from her family. The truth was, she didn’t want to move away fromhim.”

“Him?”

“Her boss. This older guy. They fell in love, and she fell out of love with me, the guy willing to give her the world.”

“I’m sorry, Ryker.” I lace our fingers and lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “That must’ve hurt.”

“Fucking-A, it did.”

“Is that the reason you prefer open relationships? She cheated on you so if a different girl does it in an open relationship, a mutual agreement, it’d be okay because you wouldn’t call it cheating per se? And same goes for you?”

“I never would’ve explained it away that way, but hearing you say it, yeah, it makes sense. Relationships can fuck with the mind.”

“How many open relationships did you have?”

It’s a loaded question, but I would also like to understand what I’m getting myself into.

“A handful. Nothing meaningful. You?”

“Zero open relationships.”

“Normalones?” he asks.

“Two.”

“I thought it was one serious boyfriend when you were seventeen. Who’s the other guy? It’s Shephard, isn’t it?”

I untangle my fingers from his. “We have a complicated relationship.”

“There’s that word again.” He sighs, and it’s deep. “Are you two in an open relationship?”

I give him something as close to the truth as possible. “More like a gray area of a friendship and a relationship. He doesn’t like other guys near me. That’s why I don’t date.”

“Does he?”

“I don’t ask.”

“Because he wouldn’t like it, or you don’t want to know?”

“Both,” I admit.

“So you are in an open relationship.”

Not ready to tell Ryker the reason Shephard is the way he is with me, I steer the conversation back to the kids.

I point at the four boys talking in the corner. “Collin, Drew, Jacob, Daniel.”

“I know their names, Harper.”

“Just making sure.”

In the corner of my eye, Ryker’s not smiling at my attempts to goad him out of this deep contemplating he’s doing about me and Shephard.

“Collin’s mom works with April’s dad. She’s the first woman to be promoted to homicide detective. April invited him to jump with us. He came and brought along Drew, Jacob, and Daniel.”

“Do all their parents work for the Prescott police department?”

“Yes. One of the cops who came with Officer Ramirez to the diner is Daniel’s brother.”

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