“Don’t bullshit me.”
“I’m not. We only ever talked about?—”
“It doesn’t matter! Nothing you say matters! The only reason you’re here is because you got caught. Well, fuck you. You made your choice, and choices have consequences.” She throws up her hands. “Now you’re making me sound like my mother! Just fuckingleave!”
“I’m stepping in,” Davis asks. “That okay?”
I nod again, numb from head to toe.
“Ada…” Jake’s voice breaks. “Can wepleasejust go somewhere and talk about this? I’ll do anything you want, justplease don’t call it?”
Ada’s smile is a black hole. “It’s called. We’re done. I’m gonna wear your jersey while my new friends Eiffel Tower me tonight, and that’s still better than you deserve. Now go.”
Before Jake can say anything, Davis steps between them. “Time to go,” he tells Jake.
I brace myself for unhinged fury, but Jake just bows his head.“Right.”
Jake glances at me as Davis leads him out, but I ignore him. I keep my eyes on Ada as she weaves away through the crowd, a tiny doll, lost in a sea of bodies. Then she’s gone, through the door and up to our apartment, a phantom, slipping back into the shadows.
I turn and see Davis speaking to Jake at the door. They’re not arguing; their heads are close, and Davis is nodding. They both pull their phones out and do something, then Jake leaves, and Davis makes his way back toward me.
“Where’d Ada go?” he asks.
“Upstairs. She’s alone.”
“But she’s okay?”
No. None of us are.I shake my head.
“What about you?”
It’s almost the exact question that led to our office hook-up. I nearly crumble and wrap my arms around his gorgeous chest. His body radiates comfort, and Iknowhe’d give good hugs. The kind that makes everything go quiet inside.
My phone goes off, and I pull it out on autopilot. Will Sharpe has sent me a private message. My heart stops.
Did Jenny complain to him about me?
I open the DM with trembling fingers, ready for polite scolding or thinly veiled rage, and blink:
You look so hot in that last pic. I really hope we can catch up at the reunion next weekend.
Suddenly, everything is crystal clear. Despite the disaster that is this night, this year, Afterglow’s finances, I still have the reunion. A chance to change. Fix everything. Will Sharpe still wants me. The beautiful boy I’ve been dreaming of forever. The happy ending that’s been keeping me going for weeks.
I need to shut this Davis brain-fart down. He isn’t part of my happy ending. The ‘three-bedroom-house-in-Pukekohe, Sunday-dinners’ ending. The ‘look how well I turned out’ ending. I’m his boss, and he’s almost a decade younger than me. What happened tonight was brought on by panic and gin, and it can never happen again.
“More drama?” Davis says, bringing me back to the now.
Yes. But not the kind you think.
I look up at him, his hazel eyes twinkle, warm and welcoming.
Hug me, my body screams,wrap me in your ridiculously big arms like a man-burrito.
But no. I need to be strong. I know what I want now, and it’s the happy ending with Will. I swallow. “Hey, about earlier…?”
“What about earlier?” The corner of his mouth kicks up, and the arrogance of hissmirk makes my pussy clench.
Focus.
