I nod. “I guess I did.”
Frannie wipes my smeared mascara off my face, and Fiona pulls my hair back into a loose ponytail. She reaches into her own hair, pulls the ponytail holder loose and wraps it around my hair. “I have more in my purse,” she tells me before I can ask.
“We also have some restaurant T-shirts in the storeroom,” Frannie says. “I’ll have someone grab you one.”
“You’re gonna have to sit in your wet jeans, though,” Fiona says.
Honestly, I don’t care. I’m still not feeling any of it.
“The guys broke it off tonight,” I tell them.
They both move around to face me.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Fiona says.
“That really sucks,” Frannie says. “Why? You’re still here for two more weeks.”
“Well, Grayson broke it off because he’s…” The wave of sadness hits me again and my eyes well up with tears.
Fiona frown. “Shit. You are not a crier. What happened?”
“Grayson‘s in love with me.”
Frannie’s eyes widen. “He’sin lovewith you? He said that?”
I nod.
“And he broke it off because of that?”
I nod and lift the tissue that Fiona hands me to my nose. “He said it’s too complicated. That his feelings are making it impossible to keep this casual. That since I’m leaving, he needs to break it off now instead of dragging it out.”
Frannie blows out a breath. “Fuck.”
I sniff. “He knows I’m leaving. He understands that and everything, but he thinks more time together will just make that harder.”
Frannie nods. “He’s probably not wrong.”
I nod. “I know. But then, with James and Cas, it just felt weird. Like…wrong, somehow, if it’s not all four of us.” I swipe the tears that are falling that I can’t seem to stop. “James has feelings for me, too. And Cas, I mean, we’re definitely friends. It’s probably a little more than that. They’re fine with me being a part of their relationship. That’s kind of huge.”
The girls both nod. “Really huge, I’d say,” Frannie says.
I take a deep breath and try to stop the tears. “I just didn’t want to be alone at your house. But I’m sorry I’m a mess.”
Frannie frowns and shakes her head. “I’m so glad you came down here.”
“For sure,” Fiona says. “This is definitely the place for you. This definitely calls for liquor and pastries.”
Ten minutes later, I am slightly more composed, seated at the bar, with a Kahlúa and cream in front of me and a plate with a variety of pastries sitting on the bar in front of me.
Harrison, a co-owner of Raw, is bartending tonight and his girlfriend Ivy and her husband Ford are seated next to me at the bar. On their other side is Liam, Harrison’s husband.
As I bite into a small lemon tart, that is absolute perfection, I study them. There is so much love and easy affection between the four of them that I am consumed with jealousy.
Ford and Ivy are married, as are Harrison and Liam, but they live as a foursome. They are absolutely a committed unit that is clearly bound by friendship, love, and loyalty.
They’re making it work. In real life, right in front of me, in Honeysuckle Harbor.
It’s possible.
