Chapter 23

Eden was waiting for me outside my house when I got home. She was leaning against the side of her car, looking worried. The moment I turned off the engine and got out of my car, she was right there beside me.

"Marley," she said softly.

"Do you hate me too?" I whispered.

"I could never hate you." She drew me in for a hug. "Do you want to tell me what"s going on? Shaw rang and said you might need a friend. Something about you being involved with Oliver Ryan?"

"Shaw did that?" We always got along okay, but there was no question of whose side he was on and if he needed to choose, he"d always choose Cat over anyone else. What must that feel like? To have someone pick you over anyone and anything else?

"It was the briefest conversation I"ve ever had in my life, but yes." She took my hand and pulled me away from the front of the house. "He seemed concerned."

I sighed and followed her across the street to a small park. We sat down side-by-side on a bench and I buried my face in my hands. I seemed to be doing that a lot today.

When I finally managed to compose myself, I told her everything. What the guys did and Cat"s response to me telling her about my relationship with her father.

Eden listened in silence, her hand over mine.

"So you see, I dug myself a hole," I concluded. "I might as well pull the dirt over myself and stay there."

"Sweetie, none of it"s your fault," Eden said. "You can"t help who you fell for."

She averted her eyes for a moment before looking back at me. "You certainly can"t help what those guys did to you. I can"t believe any of them would do something so…icky. Tampering with your birth control. I"ve heard of women deciding not to take theirs so they could get pregnant, but nothing like this. It"s worse than poking holes in a condom."

"I can"t believe it either," I said. "Part of me wonders if I deserve to have them do that. I lied to Cat and I lied to you. Maybe I"m a shitty person who doesn"t deserve anything good."

She put an arm around me and squeezed. "You"re one of the sweetest people I know. I won"t lie, I"m a bit disappointed you didn"t think you could confide in me. But I can"t say I"m surprised. I"ve always thought there was chemistry between you and Oliver. It was only a matter of time before you acted on it. You weren"t breaking any laws or rules by caring for each other."

"Tell Cat that," I said bitterly. "She said she didn"t want any of her friends to get involved with her father. I didn"t listen."

"I love her to pieces," Eden said, "but Cat doesn"t get to make the rules. Especially when it comes to your love life or her father"s. You would never tell her who she could or couldn"t see. She"s an adult who made up her own mind, and so are you."

"Maybe she didn"t want us getting involved with him because she knew what he was like," I said. "She might have suspected he"d do something like this."

"If she did, I suspect she"d kick him in the balls, not just warn us off him. She"d tell us if she had a clue that he might pull a trick like this. I think it was about her being uncomfortable with the idea of her father being involved with one of her friends, but that"s her problem. She"ll get over it."

"I don"t know about that," I said. "I don"t suppose it matters anymore anyway. If he was here in front of me, I"d kick him in the balls myself. He and I are over. Same with Toby and Cole."

"Are you sure about that?" Eden asked carefully. "I mean, I"m not condoning what they did, but maybe there"s some way they can make it up to you."

I snorted softly. "I doubt that. I don"t think there"s anything any of them can do that would make me forgive them. I don"t even want to look at any of them right now."

My heart was aching too badly. So much I was convinced it would hurt like this forever. How could it not? How could an ache like this ever ease?

"I understand," Eden said. "This must all be raw. What do you want to do? If you want to get out of town for a while, I"ll come with you. Things at home have become a bit strained."

I immediately felt like shit for not asking how she was. She was always so calm and rational. It was easy to assume nothing bad ever happened in her life.

"Is there a problem at home?" I asked.

"My mum and my stepdad are getting a divorce," she said. "When I left, they were arguing over who was moving out. Things were getting…heated."

It was my turn to give her a squeeze. "I"m so sorry, I had no idea."

"It"s okay," she said. "It"s been going on for a while but recently things have been getting worse. They"re really over each other and ready to move on." She looked down at the grass in front of us.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She looked beaten up about it.

"I will be," she said. "But it"ll be good to get away for a little while. Let"s go lie on a beach somewhere and get some perspective."

"That"s so tempting," I said.

"You don"t have to go to work tomorrow," she pointed out. "Looking for a new job can wait for a few days, can"t it?"

Normally, I"d say no, but under the circumstances she was right. A few days away wouldn"t hurt me and if it gave her a break from the tension at home, then that was a bonus.

"Okay, let"s go somewhere. It"ll be nice to get away from Opal Springs for a few days." I might even forget what the guys did, for an hour or two.

"Perfect. I have a friend who has a holiday house. I"m sure they won"t mind us using it for a few days. I"ll get everything organised. Throw a few things into your suitcase and I"ll pick you up in an hour."

"Okay, let"s do this," I said. If I wasn"t careful, I"d let myself get excited.

I was waiting for Eden when she returned, suitcase packed full as though I was going for a year. I sent a text to my parents to let them know I was going away for a few days and ignored three calls from Toby, two from Cole and one from an unknown number that was probably a scam trying to tell me my computer needed an upgrade.

Eden pulled into the driveway, but she was followed close behind by a dark SUV I recognised as Oliver"s.

I watched through the window in the door as they both got out of their cars.

Eden stood, hands on fists as Oliver approached. I couldn"t hear what they were saying, but they were both just this side of polite, judging by the expressions on their faces. Oliver made to step around her toward the door, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.

He gave her a look like he"d shove her out of the way if she didn"t move. Not usually given to violence, he was obviously short on patience right now.

Before he did anything we"d all regret, I unlocked the door and hurried outside.

"Go away, Oliver," I told him. "I have nothing to say to you."

"You"re going somewhere." He frowned at my suitcase, which stood just inside the door.

"It"s none of your business," I said. "I can do what I want and go wherever I want. I don"t need your permission. I don"t belong to you."

He glanced at Eden. "Give us a couple of minutes."

Her eyebrows rose. She looked questioningly at me.

"This won"t take long," I told her. Told them both. I wasn"t giving him a moment more of my time than necessary.

She nodded quickly and stepped a few metres away to give us some space.

Oliver grabbed my arm and pulled me in the opposite direction. "You need to listen to me, Marley-Jane. I know you"re angry right now, but you need to calm down and think rationally."

"You need to stop telling me how to think or feel," I snapped. "You don"t get to do that anymore."

I won't lie, I was as conflicted as hell. Part of me wanted to hear him out. Maybe he had some explanation that would magically make all of this better. The other part of me didn"t want to hear a word.

His grip on my arm tightened. "I can and will tell you. You might not believe it right now, but you do belong to me. You will come to understand why I did what I did. More than that, you"ll appreciate it."

I looked him right in the eyes. "In your fucking dreams. You really think I"ll understand why you thought it was okay to do what you did? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me," he said. "Nothing except my desire to give you everything you want and need."

"Whether I like it or not?" I snarled. I shook my head. "That"s not how love works."

He barked a laugh. "That"s exactly how love works. When you have this baby, you"ll understand the lengths people will go to. You"ll do anything to make them happy."

"Right now, I think the best thing I can do is keep this baby away from you," I said. "I don"t give a shit whether you"re the father or not."

"I don't either," he said. He lifted his chin and looked at me from beneath his eyebrows. He looked tired, but I couldn"t bring myself to give a shit right now.

"I love you. I'll love this baby, whether or not it's mine. Statistically, there's a greater chance Toby or Cole are the biological father, given they're younger. So is their sperm."

"Thank fuck for that," I said. "Cat hates me enough right now without me carrying her sibling." When I saw I"d had him at a loss for words, I added, "I told her everything. All about us and what you did. She"s furious."

His grip tightened harder still, his fingers digging into my flesh. "She wasn"t supposed to know until after her baby is born."

"Yeah, well, now she does," I said. "Don"t worry, I"m sure she hates you as much as she hates me."

He dropped his hand from my arm. "Fuck."

"Yeah, fuck. I don"t suppose it crossed your mind there might be consequences to what you did." I stepped back from him.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I should talk to her."

"That"s up to you." I shrugged. "If you don"t get your car out of my driveway, I"m calling a tow truck to get it removed."

"Marley-Jane." For a moment he actually looked regretful. "How long are you going away?"

"As long as I want," I said. "It"s none of your business anymore."

I turned away and looked back up the driveway to get my suitcase. By the time I turned back, he and his car were gone.