Typhon

Chapter 18

Rylee~

All week had been a mix of Stone's overbearing presence and Laney avoiding me, and I felt exhausted. While I hadn't removed the ring, I had turned it inward, so that the band was usually the only thing showing, giving me some unrealistic measure of control. However, Stone making our relationship real all over the internet, and the way that he had intercepted me on Monday and Tuesday, made me feel like my life wasn't my own anymore. It was like living inside a fishbowl where everyone got to see everything.

I'd also made it a point to call my mom Monday evening and tell her that I was dating someone new. As predicted, she'd been excited and had demanded details. While I'd told her Stone's first name, I had purposely left out his last name. There wasn't anyone in the country that wouldn't recognize the last name Lexington, and I didn't want to have to explain to my family who he was until I absolutely had to.

I also knew that my parents and brother would be upset once they found out that I'd gotten married without them, but I was hoping that I could manipulate that in my favor. I could always marry Stone at the end of the four weeks but have a church ceremony next year on our anniversary. We could always just lie to everyone about that being our wedding after being engaged for a year. It could work, right? Well, except for the whole lying in front of a priest in a church thing. That was a bit tactless, but I had no other ideas on how to sell this to my family. Thank God my parents didn't do social media, and Bishop was deployed.

Now, while Stone had agreed to give me space, we talked on the phone a lot, and he also walked me to my classes whenever we were on campus together, and date night had been perfect. We still needed to learn a lot more about each other, but I'd learned a lot about Stone that night. Plus, even though I hadn't been to his condo yet, I knew the address. He'd given it to me in the event of an emergency.

Speaking of emergencies, I had also received a text from Alexis with Jennifer and Kincaid's phone numbers, and a message that we'd be getting together soon to discuss our roles as supporters, and how we could help one another in those roles. I wasn't sure how she'd ended up the point person, but something told me that Kincaid would end up being the person in charge if it ever got to that.

At any rate, now I suspected that it was that text from Alexis that had Laney standing in my room, surprising me with her change in attitude. If we were going to be in this fucked-up secret club together, then she couldn't stay mad at me forever and still make it work. She probably realized that at some point this week.

"What?"

Laney let out a dramatic sigh, one that I'd seen before. When she was wrong or tired of fighting with someone, she pulled out the special effects to shadow any residual hostilities.

"I said that I'm sorry for how I acted," she repeated. "I was...just...surprised, and didn't handle it well, I guess." She shrugged a shoulder. "I really thought you had lied to me, Rylee. And I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you said you hadn't."

"Didn't handle it well? Really? Laney, you got nasty," I reminded her. "You said some pretty ugly shit."

Yeah, we were friends, and we'd been friends for a long time, but I wasn't going to let her behavior slide. I wasn't a pacifist like that. Standing up for myself was one of the things that Bishop had made sure to teach me while we'd been growing up. If someone treated me badly, it was up to them to make it up to me, not the other way around.

Laney sighed again. "I know," she whined. "And I'm really sorry, Ry. I am. I've been feeling like shit all week." She walked into my room, then started wringing her hands together. "You're one of my best friends, and I don't want to lose you over something that's...well, none of my business." Her face softened. "You were right about that part. It really isn't any of my business what is between you and Stone, and I'm sorry, Ry."