Page 140 of The Long Way Home

I nod once. “Love you to.”

“Tom.”

“Yeah, obviously.” I shrug like it’s not the fucking blow to the head it is.

“Jack-Jack.”

I nod once.

“Deiter Van Lauers. Addington Van Schoor—”

“Stupid name.” I shake my head. “Hate him. Next.”

She gets a look on her face. “Stavros Onasis.”

Jonah spins around. “Heard about that. Of all the people to fuck about with, Magnolia—”

I frown.

“—Dated,” Taura interjects.

“Kind of.” Magnolia considers. “Loosely.”

“For how long?” Jo asks and I’m annoyed that he cares.

“Like a month, if that.” Parks shrugs. “It was weird, actually. I think Romeo Brambilla had something to do with it ending.”

A look flashes over Jonah’s face that I don’t get.

“Anyway.” Magnolia clears her throat. “Then a secret person I can’t say.”

I roll my eyes. “So, Evans.”

She frowns.

“You fucked Rush Evans, Magnolia. It was in the papers constantly, you twat.”

And I’m acting like I don’t give a fuck, but that one annoys me because he’s everywhere these days. He could have anyone and he had her.

Taura turns around from the front seat to face us, her face pulling.

“Are we still going to call it that?”

“What do you mean?” Magnolia crosses her arms. “What else would we call it?”

Tausie gives her an uncertain look. “Dating?”

Parks scoffs. “Taura, Rush was gone half the time. I dated, like, three guys in between—”

“—Yeah and you dumped them all the second Rush came back into town.” Taura gives her an impatient look. “You dated him.”

Parks shakes her head, all resolute. “I wouldn’t do that to Tom.”

I stare over at her. “You did do that to Tom,” I scoff, staring at her like she’s a foreign object. “You’re so fucked in the head with all these little caveats and parentheses that you put around everything, like — I don’t know why — you’re trying to exercise some control over ev—”

“—You’ve been in therapy for four months,” she interrupts. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re ta—”

“—It means shit, Parks,” I say over her. “It’s bullshit. You fucked over Tom when you fucked his best friend just like you fucked over me when you fucked mine.”

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