"I wonder if Erin would like the sea breeze theme outside?" Randy thought out loud.
Randy and John had their hands on their chins while looking at beach-themed decorations. From beach pictures to sea shells to the perfect shade of 'sand' color, both men have spent the better part of two hours trying to be straight version of Christopher Lowell. Their deciphering of the color schemes and moods made a few customers wonder about their sexuality.
"I'm digging it." John agreed.
"I think so." Randy nodded as he looked at the sea-shells.
Disturbing the calm and peaceful mood both men had created, Erin hurried back into Pottery Barn. She was walking too fast for Trish to keep up. "We're leaving now, Orton." Erin said, emphatically.
"Just a minute, Boo. We're almost done here." Randy said, not taking his eyes off the decorations.
"No, we're leaving now. I need to go home and kill my brother." Erin demanded.
Randy turned to Erin's attention. "Yes?"
"He's dating that slut!" Erin sneered.
Randy wasn't sure if he wanted to ask the question on his mind. "Um, which one?"
"You know the one!" Erin huffed.
Randy turned to John, who held up his hands as if he were saying, 'You married her, man.' He turned back to his wife. "Humor me."
"Stacy!" Erin rolled her eyes. "Yeck!"
"So?" He asked.
"So?" Erin mocked. "So? She's a fuckin' slut, that's so!"
"Erin, watch it with the tone now." Randy looked around. "We'll talk about this when we get home."
"Fine. Give me the keys and you and John can just walk home." She held out her hand.
"Yeah, you're not acting immature about this at all." Randy shook his head while admiring more furniture.
"Why are you so calm about this? You know how much I hate her!" She defended.
Randy walked up to the front counter and placed his order for delivery. Erin was hot on his trail. "Three to five days? Perfect!" He smiled and left the store. "I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, Nitro and Stacy have been together for about six months now…"
Erin stopped Randy cold. "What?"
"And I think that's our cue to take a cab, Honey." John motioned to Trish.
Randy shook his head. "I've been knowing about Nitro and Stacy, Boo."
"Oh really? For how long?"
"I don't know," Randy shrugged. "Since a little after the wedding, I guess."
"And you didn't bother to let me know about this little detail?" She folded her arms.
"Hey, don't put the blame on me. John knew about it, too!" He pointed.
"Thanks, asshole." John smirked.
"Nitro told us to keep it a secret until…"
"Until I found out from the skank?" Erin interjected.
"Until he told you himself." Randy finished.
Erin turned Randy's face to her. "We're going home and talking right now!"
----------------------------------------------------
On the way home, there was an uncomfortable silence between the couples. The moment Randy pulled into the driveway, Erin hurriedly left the SUV and Trish followed behind her. John and Randy stayed inside the truck for a few minutes, scoping the scene.
"Dude, this wasn't my fault." Randy said.
"I know that and you know that." John pointed towards the home. "But do they know that? No. Do they care? Not really. Either way, we're still assholes."
"That we are." Randy got out of the truck just in time to see Stacy and Nitro pull up in a sportscar. "Your sister is going to kill you."
Nitro got out the Corvette and walked up to Randy. "I know. Stacy told me the whole story. That's why we're here." He shook his head. "This is bullshit."
"Well, I'm going to go in and try to do damage control before you see her. The worse she can do to me is refuse sex for a while." Randy nodded.
"And please don't ever mention sleeping with my sister again." Nitro smiled.
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Entering the home, Randy made a bee-line to his bedroom. He saw Trish comforting Erin on the bed. Trish excused herself from the bedroom and Erin immediately went on the attack. "Thank you, Orton, for lying to me. I really appreciate it." Erin folded her arms.
Randy closed the door behind him. "Lying to you? How did I lie to you?"
"How did you lie to me? Are you fucking retarded? You know how much I hate that bitch. She tried to break us up and now she's hanging all over my brother! You didn't think for once that I should know about that crap?"
"Nitro asked me to keep it between me, him, and John and we did. He knew how you were going to react and he wanted to tell you on his own terms. Besides, what's the big deal? Stacy and Nitro are happy together."
"She's not good for him! She's some skank that's fake."
"Don't you think you're being a little unfair, Erin?"
"No, I'm not. You didn't work next to her for three years, Orton? You didn't watch her spend more time in stockroom checking her makeup while I waited on customers left and right."
While Randy didn't question Erin's resentment towards Stacy, he felt there was more to her feelings than she wanted to admit. "Are you jealous?"
"You're fucking unbelievable, you know that? I'm jealous? Of that tramp? Why? Is it because that's what you really want? Is it because she's more your type?"
"I thought we got past that, Erin."
"Well, I didn't."
"Apparently." Randy put his hands on his hips. "What was I supposed to do? Nitro asked me to keep a secret and I did. Why is this my fault now?"
"You lied to me, Randy. Don't you get it? You lied to me." Erin said.
"I didn't lie!"
"But you weren't telling the truth, now were you?"
Randy sighed and shook his head. "Boo, I'm sorry, alright? But you need to understand that I didn't mean to keep the secret to hurt you in any way."
"Just like you didn't mean to keep the secret about your inheritance?" She retorted.
Randy let out another sigh and nodded. The one issue he thought Erin had forgave him for, slowly crept back into their lives. And it was clear that while Erin may have forgiven Randy, she would never forget.
If it was the first time she mentioned it, he would've excused it. But the way Erin casually mentioned it to other friends of theirs and describing her distraught feelings made Randy wonder if the past was just that.
"You know what? Fine. You want to go there, fine. But I need to make something loud and clear to you right now. I love you and I will always love you. But if you're going to keep bringing up some bullshit I did to win every fuckin' argument we have, I'm willing to give up everything. I'm heading out." He walked out their bedroom and shut the door behind him.
Randy hurried downstairs and grabbed his keys. "Hey, man." John said. "Is everything alright?"
"I just need to be away from her." Randy put on a baseball cap. "For as long as I possibly can." He then headed out to the garage and sped off.
All four stared at the door and at each other. "I need to go talk to her." Trish said.
"No," Stacy shook her head. "I need to."