This time, the horror on Astrid's face was genuine. "Oh, good God. No. I know you like being preggo, Livvy, but it all sounds like science fiction horror to me. Something growing inside you, eating off you... ugh."
I couldn't hold in the small laugh that bubbled up in me.
"Anyway," Liv said, rolling her eyes, "Yeah. I think Camden just wanted to finally get the situation handled. He's known where Thomas is for a couple days already. But I think he was enjoying having some alone time with you, so he was putting it off. Now, he wants to handle it. Close that chapter. So you guys can open a new one."
"Listen to you, talking like a cheesy Lifetime movie," Astrid butted in, shaking her head. "I never thought I would see the day you turned into a sap. I once saw you stare down a Hungarian mob boss and tell him he could take his money and shove it up his ass. Now you're all waxing poetic. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
"Ah, Astrid, you chase chickens all day and can't sleep when one has a weird pooping day. Don't lecture me about badass days being behind me," Liv added, no malice in the words, just an almost sister-like teasing.
Never having any siblings, I couldn't help but be jealous of their bond. Even though I knew they weren't raised together either, that they had found this connection later in life.
It kind of gave me hope that maybe I could find something like that as well.
Life had never afforded me much time to pursue things like friendships, to foster deep connections. I don't know if I ever really knew what I was missing until that moment, watching them interact.
"Aren't you going to ask how he is handling it?" Astrid prompted after she and Liv had a small-eye staring contest.
"I, ah, well, I think I have a pretty clear idea of how he planned on handling it."
"Does that bother you?" she pressed, brow lifting.
I had a feeling this was a test of sorts. And I wasn't sure if my answer was what she wanted to hear. It was my truth, though, so I had to share it. "Yes and no, I think. I mean... Thomas is a sick person. He has spent so much of his time chasing me around, wanting to possess me. And then what, I don't honestly even know. Keep me as some sort of slave? Because I never would have stayed with him willingly. And I will be honest and say that when I was in Cape May, I had fantasies about killing him myself."
"So, you want it."
"I want it over," I clarified. "I don't think I like the idea of it having to come to this. Both because I just... I wasn't raised that way, you know? It isn't something casual in my life. It's a big deal. But I also feel like it isn't right for Cam to have to do something like that, something so dark."
"Cam has handled a lot of dark in his time, Annie," Liv reasoned. "Most of it for much shittier reasons than this one. He wants you safe. He wants you not to have to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. There is really only one way to accomplish that. With someone as twisted as Thomas is. I'm not saying we need to normalize it, but I am suggesting that maybe it is something you need to be rational about."
"I mean, you did sign up to date an arms-dealing biker. You couldn't have expected his history was all car washing charities and helping old ladies across the street," Astrid added.
"No, I know. I think it can be easy in some ways to sort of compartmentalize that away, though. If that makes sense. Like that is just one thing about him. There are so many other things. Like how caring he is, how giving, how attentive and strong. How he can't cook. Or sing. And how he-"
"Wait," Liv cut me off, brows furrowing.
"Yeah," Astrid agreed. "Did you just say sing?"
Crap.
I had no idea if that was something private or not.
But it seemed too late to backtrack now. I had a distinct feeling that neither of these women were going to let it drop. I was also acutely aware of the fact that I had very little chance of standing up to one of them, let alone both.
"I, ah, well, I read some articles suggesting that when you sing, your stutter goes away. On our first night back here, I asked if he would sing with me."
"And he agreed?" Liv asked, sounding both confused and almost, I don't know, awestruck.
"I, ah, yeah. We sang. Well, I sang. He made a noise something like metal being ground up in a blender," I told them, feeling my lips curve up.