Page 132 of Oblivion

“So wrong.”

“Know what else is wrong?” he drawled.

“Your face?”

Jenny snorted and landed a punch on my shoulder. “Asshole. Everything: Forrest, Ward... Sadie. And whatever the fuck that was in there.” He gestured to the living room.

“I’m really fucking sorry. That was way out of line. Plus, I think I just fucked up my entire chance with Penny. I have to tell her, man.”

His elbows meet the countertop to mimic my position. “And you will. She’ll be pissed, but tell her gently and I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“I dunno, Jen. You know when we met them in Vegas?” He nodded. “Well, she’d just found out both her parents had affairs. Her father—who’s not her biological father—cheated on Penny’s mom multiple times over their marriage. Penny’s insecure as fuck about it, and here I go and do exactly the same thing.”

“It wasn’t the same thing, brother. Besides, you guys aren’t exclusive, right?”

I scoffed bitterly. “Not officially, but we might as well have been. Fuck, this is killing me.” I rubbed at my chest. “What I had with Sadie is nothing compared to what I feel for Penny. Hell, I was even thinking she could be the one for me, you know?”

“Fucking Christ, Lotus! You need to make that damn phone call sooner rather than later.”

“I know!”I ran a hand down my face and sighed. “And what do you mean about Ward?”

He clasped his hands together, huffed, then lowered his voice. “Between you and me, I think he fucking did it.”

My brows pulled low. “Did what?”

“PushedForrest.”

I snapped upright, spine ramrod-straight and fused with shock. “Bullshit!”

Jenny splayed his fingers briefly before re-linking them. “Dunno, bro. I just can’t fucking shake the thought. Not after Doughboy said he arrived on the roof—which must have been moments after Forrest fell—to see Ward peering over the ledge, smirking. Fuckingsmirking,Lotus!”

I pressed both forefingers into my eye sockets. “Is Doughboysure?”

Jen stood and leaned his ass on the counter, arms crossed over his chest. “He’s fucking sure. You know how he is. He’s hardly ever wrong.”

Cursing, I paced the kitchen while rubbing both hands over the back of my head. “Has he told anyone? Command, I mean?”

“Not yet. He’s just told me and Tuck. He wanted to wait until after Forrest was laid to rest before disturbing the waters. An accusation like that rolling off the back of Ward’s court martial is gonna open a big-ass can of worms.”

I shook my head, eyeing Chen like he told me he only shat during a full moon.

“I hope Doughboy knows he’s in for one hell of a battle. You all are.”

He grunted, and I forced new fears off the tip of my tongue.

“You don’t suppose Ward was retaliating for me and Forrest testifying against him, do you?”

Chen pursed his lips. “Brother, if he reallydidpush Forrest off, then fuck yeah, I think it was retaliation.”

“Shit!” I turned away and fought against the emotion squeezing my throat. Then another thought hit me.

“You know when your phone went missing after Vegas. Did you ever find out what happened to it?”

His eyes narrowed. “No. Why?”

“Jackson received an anonymous email with the video of me pissing out of the van window on the way to the airport.”

Chen’s frown morphed into a perfect-toothed grin, and his booming laugh bounced around the kitchen.

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