Page 77 of Absolutely Pucked
I took in a deep breath, then shook my head. “We made the choice not to tell Tucker right away. He’s so happy. I didn’t want to ruin that.”
Boden burst into a mean-sounding laughter. “Yeah, because stealing his wife wasn’t bad enough, you had to go and fuck his friend behind his back. God, you are a?—”
“He didn’t steal her!” Ford shouted.
Boden’s eyes widened. “Bullshit. You know what happened. We have spent years listening to his pain. We have spent almost a goddamn decade helping him recover from what this asshole put him through!”
Ford took a deep breath. “You and I both know that Tucker’s story is only one side.”
I couldn’t take this anymore and held up both hands. “There’s more to the story, but as I’ve been saying this whole time, it doesn’t matter. I’m the one who hurt my brother. I’m the one who crossed a line that should have never been crossed.”
Boden looked at me for a long, heavy beat. “Tell him. Right now. I’m going to call him on speaker, and you are going to tell him.”
“Boden—” Ford started to beg.
“No. And if you want even a chance for him to forgive you, you’re going to let this happen, Ford. Just because you got bored and wanted to get your dick wet and play with fire doesn’t mean you get to burn the rest of us!”
Ford crumpled. He sagged down to the bed, his hands over his face, and his shoulders were shaking. All I wanted in the entire world was to go to him, but I knew that would ruin what little hope I had to salvage this for Ford.
“Call him.”
Boden’s jaw tensed, and he nodded stiffly, pulling out his phone. There were a few long moments of silence, and then the phone began to ring. It only took a moment for Tucker to answer.
“Why the fuck are you calling me this early? I swear to God I will come over in the middle of the night and?—”
“There’s something you need to know,” Boden said.
I couldn’t do this over the phone. Not like this. I took a step closer and squared my shoulders. “Hey, Tuck—er. Tucker.” Damn it, I would never get that right.
The silence was so thick I could almost feel it like a physical thing. Then he coughed. “Um. What the fuck? Killian?”
“Yeah. Could you come over to Ford’s?” I asked. Ford’s head shot up, and he met my gaze, betrayed. “I’m here, and we need to talk.”
For a long moment, I thought maybe he’d hung up, and then in a very small voice, he said, “I will be there in ten.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
KILLIAN
Ten minutes feltlike ten years. I had enough time to get dressed and head out into the living room, where Ford, who had also thrown something on, shoved a mug of coffee at me. He still looked pissed off.
Boden was in a chair, watching us both, his gaze sharp and unforgiving. After a short while, he waved his hand between us. “Explain this.”
“We fucked,” Ford said flatly. “You want me to draw you a diagram? Show you how I plowed his ass with my dick? Or…”
“You know what the fuck I’m asking. I want to know how it happened. How did you take leave of every goddamn sense you have in that dipshit brain of yours and make this decision?”
“Please don’t,” I said. For the first time, I sounded mean. But I wasn’t about to let Boden come at Ford like that.
Ford already felt like the black sheep of his already black sheep group of friends. I’d spent nights listeningto him quietly whisper all of his insecurities, and I wasn’t about to let him believe them about himself because Boden was angry.
Boden lifted a brow at me. “You don’t get to dictate how I speak to him.”
“Maybe, but I’m not going to let you make him feel subhuman because we made a questionable choice. Yes, it wasn’t the right one, but he is a good person, and you know it. You’re not going to erase a decade of his loyalty because of one lapse in judgment. And you don’t get to make him feel small.”
“It’s fine,” Ford said. “I deserve it.”
