Page 74 of Crew Princess
Damn.
He had a point. He had a lot of points.
I kept quiet and glanced to Cross.
He had moved his gaze away, glaring at the beach now.
“Bren?” Jordan asked. “Can you fill me in? What. Sunday. Dinner?”
I closed my eyes. Just needed a second here.
I was officially being asked to choose crew over a relationship, and just like that, Cross’ words came back to haunt me, something he said last semester.“Your first loyalty is to the crew, but mine is to you.”
I felt my heart being ripped out, just as it had been then. He had it in his hand. It was still beating, pumping, but he was holding me captive.
As if sensing what was going on inside of me, Cross finally made the decision for me.
“You know my parents are divorcing,” he said.
“Yeah. I mean, is that what this is all about—”
“My dad has another kid.”
What?!Shock ricocheted through me, pinging back and forth until I was almost swaying on my feet.
“What?” I moved toward Cross.
He moved away, shaking his head. “I can’t even explain everything because it’s all so seriously fucked up.” He drew in a sharp breath. “My dad had an affair a long time ago. He’s always been on the road for his job, but I didn’t know about the affair until a month ago.”
A month… He’d known a month and hadn’t told me.
I tried not to be hurt by that.
But that stung.
Jordan cast me a pitying look. That didn’t help.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“My parents’ relationship has been all fucked up for an entire year. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened. A part of me doesn’t want to know, but I know that whatever happened back then, they got over it. Things were all good, and then my mom cheated. And I don’t know…” He turned toward the ocean, his voice so raw.
I felt a tear welling up, and I blinked it away. I shoved down a lump in my throat.
“I don’t know the details, but I know his new woman is the woman he had an affair with, and the kid is in Fallen Crest. He’s a senior this year.”
Jordan looked like a statue.
Neither of us could speak.
“Taz doesn’t know.”
Oh… I was almost falling down at this point. I sat instead.
Jordan let out a strangled laugh, sinking down next to me. “That’s…” He leaned forward, resting his arms over his knees. “Holy shit, Cross. That’s—I don’t even know what that is.” He turned his head, angling back to look up at Cross. “You got a brother, man?”
Cross didn’t respond, still staring at the ocean.
He blinked a few times, and I saw a tear slip down. He ignored it, looking back at us. New emotion shone through him. I saw it break past a wall, and the torment there had the lump in my throat doubling in size.
