He loved me. But if he loved me as much as he proclaimed, how could he have cheated? How could he take every moment and throw it all away?
I loved him. But it’s nothing compared to my feelings for Karson. If Tom was the flame, Karson was the whole damn fire.
Exhaustion dissolved my strength. I pulled my hand away and closed my eyes before tears sank them. I looked back as he turned the corner. The door clicked shut moments later.
A single tear trickled down my cheek. I wiped it roughly away with my sleeve, hoping the girls wouldn’t notice. Georgie moved over and perched herself on the arm of the chair. She put her arm around my shoulders as a few more tears slipped silently down. Whether they were tears born from Tom and Kelly’sbetrayal, the loss of Karson, or sheer exhaustion I didn’t know. Maybe it was all three.
“Did you kick him in the balls and punch her in the nose?” Sarah asked.
I glanced up. She had a serious expression on her perfect face. I shook my head.
“Oh, you totally should have; it would have made you feel so much better.” She grinned. “Or burned his bed while they were still in it.” Her smile widened until it filled her whole face.
“Oh, I know,” Jodie said excitedly, “let’s sneak into his apartment and cut up all his clothes into thousands of tiny pieces.” There could be no bigger crime than cutting up someone’s clothes for Jodie.
“Yes, and we could drive to Ohio and paint whore all over the bitch’s car, in lipstick,” Georgie added, equal in her excitement.
“Forget the lipstick, use paint.” Sarah sat back and crossed her long legs. “And then punch her in the kisser for good measure.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No, it’s a little far to drive. She’s not worth the petrol.”
“I have a better idea,” Georgie said, “we sneak into his apartment and swap the sugar and the salt over.”
Georgie was sweet and kind, her idea of hurting someone was a little more kindergarten variety.
Jodie rolled her eyes.“Totally lame, Georgie.” She lowered her voice and leaned forward, like we were planning a robbery. “No, we sneak into his apartment and rub his toothbrush on our butts, right in the chocolate star.”
We all laughed.
“Oh no, Jodie, too far,” Georgie said, twisting her face and chuckling.
“No, I like it,” Sarah said, nodding. “And then we burn the fucker’s bed.”
The dark veil lifted and my insides warmed. The girls’ sense of humor was exactly what I needed. I needed friends. For a long time I’d told myself I was fine on my own without anyone else, it was a lie. But the lie was an armored door I kept firmly closed over the void of my life. Scared that if I opened it, if I admitted I needed people, the emptiness would swallow me whole.
There was a moment of quiet.
Jodie jumped up. “Let’s see what he got you.”
Georgie squeezed my shoulder and moved back to the couch.
Jodie came back with a screwed-up face. “A backpack.” She unzipped it and peered inside, rifling through the contents. “Blanket, head torch, GPS thingy, lots of shit in here.” She looked up. “Jesus, Amy, that’s, like, way too practical. If he’s trying to win you back, I would have thought he’d buy flowers and wine, or jewellery. Exotic holidays, maybe a Louis Vuitton bag.” She threw the backpack, I knew it would have cost a fortune, on the floor in disgust. She sat back down, leaned her head back on the couch. Her eyes moved to the ceiling, as if she were thinking about something. She twisted her head back.
“I can just imagine when you were in the sack with him.” She put on her best doctor voice and gave a wicked grin. “‘Now this part of your anatomy is called your clitoris, I am just going to circle my tongue around it now, keep still please.’” The girls burst into laughter.
“‘Sorry, is my tongue cold?’”
“Jodie, no stop,” I giggled.
“What about Karson then?” Georgie put her best sergeant’s voice on. “‘Clothes off, turn around soldier.’”
The room erupted again.
“What about Ethan?” Sarah said, still laughing. “He’d be, ‘Wham! Bam! Thanks, ma’am. Now get out.”
“Nope, he’d be, ‘Wham! Bam! Thanks, ma’am. Get out.” Georgie raised her voice. “Next.”
“What about BJ?” Sarah said.
