I nodded into his shoulder. The tears were flowing freely now. We stayed like that for a minute or two. It wasn’t nearly long enough.
“We all go in there, you know,” he said as he pulled away. “All three of us. But I… I go in there the most.”
It was the last thing he said as he walked away. I let him go, watching him pad down the hallway. My hand was on my own door’s knob when Roderick looked back to mutter one more thing.
“I go in there the most, because it was all my fault.”
Thirty-Seven
BRYCE
Monday brought work, and with it, time away from the manor. For the first time since I could remember, I was loathe to go. What we had with Karissa made me want to stay at the manor forever. She made us happy. She made us laugh. She brought new joy to an old place, and an exciting new vibe to our stagnant routine.
She’s not a puppy, man.
She wasn’t, but it was like that in a way. She was something to look forward to seeing at the end of the day. Something pure and beautiful, with a razor-sharp wit and a radiant smile and a whole bunch of other great things. Something… ours.
Again.
More than all of that, I wanted to hold her in my arms and make her feel safe. I wanted to wrap my body around her and protect her from whatever she was running from and could never talk about. Or even from the outside forces that seemed to be hellbent and breaking and burning the place down before we could fix it up.
I was still working my jobsite in Jamestown when the sun went down. Roderick shot us a text-message, saying he’d be spending the night away. He was quoting a job near Boston when he got hung up drinking with potential clients, and ended up grabbing a hotel for the night. He had another job to check out in the morning anyway.
That left Karissa all to myself, or maybe to me and Camden. We could figure something out — a late dinner, maybe. Or we could just curl up on the couch with her together. Walk the halls again in the dead of night, exploring things and places I’d never really stopped to look at in much detail before.
Karissa made everything more interesting, somehow. Even the little things.
I packed up my tools and raced home, to find the two of them laughing and playing in the kitchen. Camden had an arm wrapped around Karissa from behind, feeding her a taste of his ‘infamous’ tomato sauce that he’d been simmering all day. Apparently he’s stuck close to home.
I certainly couldn’t blame him. Even better though, I wasn’t in the least bit jealous.
“Hey baby,” she smiled as I walked in. “How was your day?”
Pulling away from Camden, she slid her hips sexily against mine. Leaning forward she gave me the most wonderful of all welcome home kisses, complete with the familiar taste of Camden’s overly-sweet pasta sauce.
“It was work,” I smiled wearily.
Instead of her work clothes, she was wearing an adorable little sundress. It bounced tantalizingly around the tops of her creamy thighs, flaring daringly outward as she spun to face the stove again.
“Nothing wrong with that,” she said, dipping and licking her own finger. “Kick off your boots and relax for a while. Linguine should be ready in about five.”
“Gimmie ten and I’ll shower.”
Karissa grinned at me through the steam rising up over the boiling water. “Deal.”
I ran through my nightly routine in record time, shedding my work clothes and scrubbing away the sweat and grime of a hard day of framing. I wasn’t like most bosses, content to sit in my air-conditioned truck and shout orders at the crew. I always did love getting my hands dirty. Putting myself into whatever we were repairing or creating, even if it meant a little sweat and strain.
By the time I returned to the kitchen a plate had been set for me. No sooner had I slid into my seat than the forks Karissa and Camden were graciously holding out on fell into their respective piles of sauce-laden pasta.
“Soo…” Karissa said, after her second mouthful. “When were you guys gonna tell me you used to be married?”
She said it so casually and with such indifference that Camden nearly dropped his fork. I was halfway through my first pull of my beer, and I had to stop to keep from choking.
“Roderick…” Camden started feebly. “He told you?”
“Sort of,” she replied with a half shrug. “I’m a girl. Girls are curious.”
I nodded in understanding. “You found her room.”
“Well it is directly across from mine,” she replied. “And it was the only room Roderick told me not to go into, so naturally… well, you know the rest.”
Conflicting thoughts and feelings flooded me all at once. Gratefulness, that I hadn’t been the one to tell her. Relief, that she finally knew.
“We would’ve told you,” Camden said defensively. “Eventually, anyway. It’s just, well, it’s not exactly the kind of thing you bring up right away. Especially since there were three of us and only one of her.”
“Look, I get it,” said Karissa. “But remember, there’s still three of you and one of me. If anyone’s going to understand, I will. And I do.”
The pasta was perfectly al dente — supple and tasty, with just enough bite to it. Camden’s sauce was even sweeter than normal.
“Tell me about her,” our girlfriend said, looking up at us. She twirled another forkful, spinning the utensil between her slender fingers. “I want to know everything.”
“Everything?” Camden flinched.
“Sure. How you met her, how you fell in love with her. How the three of you… you know, broached the idea of sharing her together.” She paused and raised one eyebrow. “Or did she bring it up to you?”
I glanced Camden’s way and he shrugged. It didn’t make sense to
