“Okay. Sorry to bring it up.” She looked down at her phone. “Jesus Christ.” Letting out another weary sigh, she said, “Are you okay if I go? He’s not gonna leave me alone if I don’t.”
“Yeah—but will you be okay?”
“Yes. In fact, going to the room and fucking him will shut him up for a while—unless he accuses me of thinking about Zack while I’m doing it.”
“Zakk Wylde or Zack Ryan?”
At that, Roxy stood and started laughing. “Knowing Dean? He’d probably imagine I was thinking about a threesome.”
Standing, I gave my friend a hug again. “Please call if you need me. You can always crash here. I don’t need an entire double bed.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise.” Ending the hug, she held my shoulders. “You need to get your beauty sleep.”
Little did I know at the time, I wouldn’t be doing much sleeping that night.
It was barelyafter eight o’clock after I got out of the tub. I’d enjoyed a hot bath, hoping it would relax my muscles and calm my nerves but as soon as I got out of the tub and my skin turned gooseflesh-y, I was wide awake.
Fortunately, I had my e-reader with me because it would be the best way to take a lot of books on my honeymoon. I imagined Braden and I would spend hours on the beach, and I’d be able to read a few books I’d been dying to get lost in. After putting on a t-shirt and PJ bottoms, I combed out myhair and then found an extra blanket in the closet. I curled up on the sofa, wrapping up in the blanket, and started scrolling through the book covers on my device.
And then there was a knock at the door.
I didn’t hesitate, because I was sure it was Roxy. As I pulled the blanket off my lap, I shouted, “Be right there.” I imagined we were going to have to ask the male members of our group to threaten that asshole within an inch of his life—especially if he hurt her. And I certainly wouldn’t let him attend the wedding.
But when I opened the door, it wasn’tthatbest friend. It was my other best friend.
Zack.
And he looked miserable.
“Zack? What are you doing here?”
“I, um…I needed someone to talk to.”
Right now?“Uh…what about one of the guys?”
“They’re the problem. They’re drinking and I…had to get away from it.”
Oh, God. Okay. I understood. “Oh. Uh, come in,” I said, pulling the door open. The Zack of old, the guy I liked to think of as Cocky Rock Star Zack, he would have joined in the revelry, convincing himself that he could handle the alcohol. And what I was sure was making it twice as bad was he was isolated from Braden and Cy, his two best male friends, because they were the ones drinking. Add to it, his mother wouldn’t be here until the morning.
He was all alone.
“I’m really sorry to do this to you. I—I’ve been walking around town trying to get my fucking head on straight. The lakes—they’re really pretty under the moonlight. But it’s fuckin’ cold out there and I only brought a jacket.”
“I have a blanket here if you—”
“No, thanks. I think the cold kind of helped—but I haven’t been sober long enough to be able to be around that shit, and the thoughts that keep swirling in my mind over and over…”
“You did the right thing, Zack. You left.”
“Yeah, but…”
I put a hand on his arm. “Why don’t you sit down? I was thinking about making some hot tea. I can make some for both of us.”
“Yeah, okay.”
He followed me into the tiny kitchenette while I searched around for the kettle. I knew I’d seen it in one of the cabinets—and, lo and behold, the tea packets were next to it. As I filled the kettle with water, we were silent. Once I got it on the stove, I sat at the table next to Zack. He was staring at the tabletop as if lost in thought.
“Can I tell you something?”
