Page 92 of Keep Vegas

I purse my lips at her. “Wouldn’t be the first time someone thought that. But Hayden and I really are—”

“No, you misunderstand me. The line, ‘it’s time to break out the mold and live a new life’ or something like that. That’s you. We can both choose to leave our gilded cages.”

I cock an eyebrow at her. “Can we now?”

“I can’t let the world know, right?” Her voice is sadder than it should be.

“When you’re ready, you can. Look, I’m the king of disappointing my family, but jump in the water’s fine.”

“Why do you do that?” she asks.

“What?”

“Undersell yourself. You know they’re not constantly disappointed, they just don’t understand you.” She puts her head back on the couch.

I lean back as well and face her. We look like little kids in a fort. “Same.”

“I can’t. And Teddy’s furious, and I’m not brave enough yet to face down awful stereotypes and horrific people with their antiquated views.” I can’t fix this for her, but I do see a way out for both of us.

“Trust me, step outside of our insulated bubble and those stereotypes are fading fast. The only people who will care are people who don’t fucking matter.”

“Is this advice or confession?”

I grin. “A bit of both, I guess. Neither of us can get away from the money but we can step outside of the class bullshit.”

“They’ll cut me off.”

“Probs, yeah. But you have a very nice divorce settlement coming. And surely, Teddy’s cashed up.” I inhale and sigh. “Take the money, no art, no Vineyard, no company money. But sell this place, I’ll give you half the penthouse and sell the Catskills place. You know we both hated it. And with the settlement money, the original 3.5 million, that gives you approximately 43.5 to 60 million dollars depending on the real estate market. You’re never going to do better than that. I’ll throw in the cat and a car and pay all the taxes this year.”

Her face drops a little in surprise. “You’d still do that? I lied to you.”

“It seems to be a trend.”

“What?” She cocks her eyebrow and I shake my head.

“Tell everyone. And then tell them to fuck off. Take Teddy and go live somewhere else. Start again as yourselves and use the money anyway you want and send me a postcard from time to time. Go to Europe or the Hudson River Valley. Go someplace that’s not Boston because maybe you’ll realize that only you cared. Stop living for everyone else. It’s a thing I’ll try out as well.”

She holds me close and doesn’t sob. That’s not who she is.

“How long with Teddy?”

“Since I was eighteen. She’s it for me.”

“Why did we have sex?” I ask, truly confused.

“I got married because Teddy and I broke up and I liked you. I thought I might be bisexual, so I didn’t exactly hate having sex with you or men. But in the end, bi, straight, gay, I’m not sure I could label myself anything but Teddy’s. I’m hers and always have been. I don’t know if I can come out officially, but let’s at least get this divorce behind us.”

I jump up and down, dancing around the room. “Thank Fucking God!”

She laughs. “Hey, why were you in Vegas?”

“I was having a lot of sex with the love of my life, who ironically, I also met when we were eighteen.”

Her eyes get wide, and her face cracks in a smile. “NO! Get out! Makenzie?” I smile and nod.

“Yeah and your dumbass has me sneaking around because of the divorce. So, how about we ditch the water and find something a little stronger and you and I tell each other some truths?” Laura winks at me.

“Sounds like a plan.”