27. Meredith
MEREDITH
I have no idea where I’m going.
But the second Bones leaves, so do I.
I didn’t get any sleep, so I packed my bag and decided I needed a few nights away to clear my head.
There’s no way he’s going to give me any space, so I’m taking it for myself.
About forty-five minutes into the drive my phone starts going off.
Ignoring it, I find a hotel about three hours from my house and pay for three nights.
I order some room service before checking my messages.
Six missed calls and five messages from Bones.
I open the Baddies group chat instead.
Xanthe
Meredith, are you okay? Ghost said he took you home.
Isla
Please check in with us and let us know you are okay.
Atiana
We are so sorry!
Ora
I’m going to kill Bones.
Lu
Do you want us to come over?
Isla
Skull said you aren’t home. Where are you? Please let us know you are okay.
Xanthe
PROOF OF LIFE.
Meredith
I’m okay! I’ll be back in a few days. I just need some space.
After messaging them, I contact my boss and tell him that I’m unwell and need a few days off.
Isla
Bones is going crazy. I’ll tell him you’re okay.
Meredith
I don’t want to see him.
The more I’ve thought about it, the more everything is starting to make sense. Why didn’t I see this before? The little comments that people made insinuated that the twins shared everything.
Everything.
They even shared women.
They shared Isla.
They raise Natalia together, but no one has ever said that Bones is the father and Skull is the uncle. They act like her father and are referred to as such.
Bones has kept so much more from me than just the fact that he fucked his sister-in-law.
Have they always shared women? Did Skull not want to share Isla aside from that one time? Is that why Bones was so upset and lost? Did he find me just because he needed someone, anyone? Does he have feelings for Isla?
I remember how intimate that moment was between them, and now it all makes sense.
They seem too close because they are. They’ve been with each other. That brings a whole different level of intimacy.
Bones kept all of this from me.
My stomach knots, and I bury my face into the hotel pillow.
Everyone around me knew.
Except me.
Those two share everything. That’s exactly what Pyro said to me. Was he trying to tell me? I know he owes his loyalty to his brothers. I can’t blame anyone else.
This is all on Bones.
He’s no longer Nate to me.
Two movies and one room service meal later, there’s a knock at the door. Staring through the peephole, I sigh when I see Skull. Since I don’t see Bones with him, I open the door and stick out my face. “What do you want?” I ask him, frowning. “Did you ask Blade to find me?”
Skull puts his palms up and offers me a small smile. “Yes, Blade did find you. And you said you wanted Bones to leave you alone, but you said nothing about me.” He flashes me a wide smile.
“Cute,” I mutter, opening the door to let him in. “You wasted a trip here. I’m perfectly fine. I just wanted a little time to wallow without Bones sitting on my front door.”
“Bones, huh,” he whispers, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “What are we watching?”
“Skull,” I say, sighing heavily. “Go home to your family. You don’t need to be here.”
Instead of listening to me, he toes off his boots and lies back on the bed, his arms crossed behind his head. “What’s She’s the Man?”
I gasp. “You’ve never seen it? It’s one of my favorite movies.”
“All right, let’s see then.”
My eyes snap to him, but he keeps his eyes on the screen. He looks so relaxed, without a care in the world. His peaceful expression only makes me angrier.
“You’re going to just lie here and watch a movie with me?” I ask, each word going higher in pitch.
“Yeah. It was a long ride out here, and I’m tired. Let’s watch this movie, I’m curious now.” He pats the spot next to him. “Come on, Doc. Relax. All your problems aren’t going anywhere.”
Suddenly feeling drained, I lay back on the bed next to him and start the movie. I watch his facial expressions during my favorite parts, smiling when he laughs.
Eventually, my eyes drift shut.
I barely got any sleep last night, and I’ve been running on empty all day.
Before I completely pass out, I feel a warm blanket come over me, and a soft kiss to my temple. “Sleep, Doc, I’ve got you.”
When I wake up the next morning, Skull is still fast asleep next to me.
He’s on top of the blanket while I’m under it, but he’s turned to face me.
He looks almost boyish when he’s asleep, his long lashes resting on his cheeks and his mouth soft.
What was it like for these women to be with both of them?
I know I’ll never get that chance, and I don’t even know how to feel about that. I’ve never looked at Skull in a sexual way. I mean, of course, he’s gorgeous. Hello… he looks like Bones, but I guess I thought it would be wrong of me to even look at him like that.
It’s his brother.
There’s a line there, or so I thought there was.
Meanwhile, Isla got to experience both of them. Together.
Worshiping her body. What the fuck am I meant to do with that?
Am I disgusted or jealous? I don’t know how I feel. But why does it feel like it’s the latter?
I hate that she knows Bones like that. That they know each other so well, yet I’m supposed to pretend like that doesn’t mean anything.
He opens his eyes, and they soften when they land on me.
“I need you to fill in some holes for me,” I blurt out, and only when he starts laughing do I realize how that sounded.
“No, not in the way Bones filled Isla,” I mutter.
He stops laughing and sighs. “Sweetheart, my brother loves you. What happened with Isla was before you, and before I met Isla, Bones and I would share women all the time. I know it sounds weird to other people, but that was our normal. We’d just worked together as a team on everything.
Then, when I fell in love with Isla, we were both pushed out of our comfort zones.
I suddenly had something he didn’t, and my first reaction was to share that with him. ” He winces as he says it.
“I know it sounds fucked up, trust me. After it happened, I knew it wouldn’t happen again.
And Bones didn’t want it to… Neither did Isla.
It was something we all experienced together, which helped us figure out how we wanted it to be going forward.
Bones didn’t love Isla, and she wasn’t the one who stopped him fucking around…
that was you. You’re his Isla. The woman who changed everything for him. ”
“He should have been honest with me, Skull. Everyone knew but me, and now I feel so stupid.”
“Hey,” he says gently, pushing my hair off my face.
“The only stupid one here is my brother, who should have laid it all out for you. He was afraid it would be too much for you and that you’d walk away.
I know that doesn’t make it right, and I told him he needed to tell you.
I think he thought he had more time.” He pauses and then smirks. “You know he’s a procrastinator.”
“So you shared women before Isla?” I ask, and he nods.
“And Natalia’s mother?” I press, already knowing the answer.
“We don’t know who her dad is, and as identical twins, I don’t think we can even find that out if we wanted to.
But we decided it didn’t matter anyway. What’s his is mine, and what’s mine is his,” he replies, his lips suddenly curving up into a grin.
“I think the only line we’ve drawn is for you and Isla.
The line is there for me, but I think it was more of a squiggle for Isla.
He grabs his phone and mutters a curse. “I’ve got twenty missed calls and eight texts from him. Are you going to put him out of his misery? He’s about to beat the shit out of Blade. I told him not to tell Bones where you are.”
“Does he know that you’re here?” I ask, and he nods.
“Yeah, I told him I’d make sure you’re safe. There’s mafia all through this territory, and I don’t want to have to deal with Alexei Sokolov if I don’t have to.”
Grabbing my phone, I read through the messages he sent me.
Bones
Baby, where did you go? I know you hate me right now, but I’m worried.
Bones
Where are you? Call me back, please.
Bones
Blade won’t fucking tell me where you are. But my brother is going to come out there. I don’t like it. I know you want space. Please let me know you’re okay.
Bones
I love you, Doc. SO fucking much. I’m sorry, I should have told you.
After reading through all of them, I send one back.
Meredith
I’m fine. Skull is here. Stop messaging me.
“Come on, have a shower and get dressed. I’ll take you out for something to eat,” Skull orders, his tone brooking no argument. “Isla told me there’s a place down the road that does a boozy brunch. Whatever the fuck that is.”
A slow, spreading smile takes over my face.
My day is suddenly looking up.
So I get my ass into the shower.