The Story of Me (Carnage #2)(46)
She shrugs and lets out a breath. “Well, Jax thinks it is, and they blued in the bar. Jax smacked Rome in the mouth and warned him to stay away from ya, and my dad pulled them apart and calmed things down.”
“Are they all right? Did they hurt each other?”
“I think Rome had a split lip but he was okay. He still sang and played his guitar after so I’m sure he was fine. They’ll both be fine; it’s not the first time it’s happened with those two.” Well, that’s a surprise. I thought they were friends.
“Jax and Roman have had fights before?”
She nods casually. “Yeah, when Jodie was going out with him, and he let her move into Narnia.” What the f*ck?
“Jodie used to go out with Roman, and she lived at Narnia?” My head’s spinning from these revelations. It’s Monday morning. I haven’t even left my bed yet, and already I just want to crawl back under the duvet, or the doona as they call it here. “Why the f*ck didn’t anyone tell me I was f*ckin’ my cousin’s sloppy seconds? I would never have gone there if I’d known.” I can’t believe no one told me.
“Thanks for that. That’s real good to hear.” We both look to the bedroom door where Roman’s standing, his arms spread as he braces each side of the doorframe. He’s wearing boardies and a T-shirt that has risen up and his belly is on show; he looks like a God, but I’m pissed off. I feel like an idiot and I hate myself for still finding him sexy.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you’re Jodie’s ex? She’s my cousin; you could have said something.”
He drops his arms to his sides. “It was years ago, and I didn’t think it mattered.”
I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. “Well, it matters to me. Someone should have told me. Let me decide if it matters.”
He studies my face for a few seconds. “What happened when I left you here Sunday morning?” He gestures with his chin towards me.
“For crying out loud, I’m not repeating all of that again. I f*cked up. I f*cked up big time, okay? Now either tell me about you and Jodie and why she was living at Narnia, or f*ck off.”
“How the f*ck did you get in anyway?” Brooke asks as she climbs out of bed, obviously not wanting to be around for this conversation. Roman holds out a key.
“I’ve still got this. Jax gave it to me the other night.” She takes it from his hand.
“Well, I’ll take that back now, thank you.” She keeps walking out of the room as Roman walks in and takes her place next to me on the bed.
“You gonna tell me what happened?”
“You gonna tell me about Jodie?”
“You’re being childish, Georgia.”
“No, Roman, I’m pissed off; pissed off is what I’m being. All this trust bullshit you’ve been spouting and you’ve just proved me right; you’ve just proved what I knew all the time. I can’t trust anyone except Cam, Jimmie, Ash and my brothers; they’re the only people I trust. I should’ve just gone with my gut and not shared anything with you.” We’re both quiet for a few seconds, lost in our thoughts. “Do I need to warn my family before what happened Saturday night appears in some tabloid?”
“Who’s Cam?” He asks, at the exact same time I ask, “What?”
“No, Georgia; for f*ck’s sake, no. Why are you being like this?” He sounds hurt, but I don’t care; well, I do care, but I’m hurt, too.
“Because I don’t trust anyone, Rome, and you promised I could trust you and I did. I trusted you and now I find out you were once in a relationship with my cousin. You should’ve been honest; you should’ve just told me and let me decide if it made a difference.” I turn and look at him; he has his knees raised up, his elbows resting on them, and he’s staring down at his feet. He slowly turns his head to meet my gaze.
“It was over ten years ago, Georgia, and I honestly didn’t think it mattered.” His ice-blue eyes don’t leave mine as he speaks.
“Well, it matters to me, Rome. It matters a lot.” We’re both quiet again. “Why was she living at Narnia?”
He lets out a sigh. “She went off the rails for a bit. After Jackson’s accident, he went a little crazy and then when he got sent to prison, Jodie just lost herself for a while. We became close, but she was hanging around with Skye.” Oh, God, kill me now. Can this get any worse? Talk about keeping it in the family. My cheeks burn. “Oh, please don’t tell me she f*cked Skye, as well?”
He tries not to smile and fails miserably. “They had a bit of a thing going on for a while. Jodie was a mess. Her mum and dad weren’t happy with the way she was behaving, and Skye was her mate and invited her to stay with her. It was all a bit f*cked-up, to be honest with ya.” He pauses, and I notice he still has a hint of a smile on his face. “She was with me, but sleeping in the same bed as Skye, and sometimes it would end up…” He tries even harder not to smile, but again he fails. “It would end up in a bit of a tangle, the three of us in the bed together.”
“I can’t believe you let her do those things to me, knowing this.” I feel violated. Everything I previously felt for Roman I’m now calling into question, and I feel let down, by him and myself. “How can you not see the wrong in all of this? It was wrong when it was just you and me, but to add Skye to the equation, that’s just f*cked, Rome.”