My eyes burned again. I didn’t want to keep crying over it. Pulling out my phone, I opened the rideshare app. It estimated fifteen minutes.
A new text made my phone vibrate.
Jack:
Are you okay?
Was I? Saying yes felt like I would be lying. But I couldn’t leave him on read. He’d worry.
Me:
Heading home now.
That was neutral, but it let him know I was safe.
Jack:
Want to come here?
It was nearing midnight. The Muse would be open for another couple of hours. I’d get to see Jack and Sean. The idea was tempting. Only I didn’t have any underwear on.
Me:
Not tonight.
I rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom. I would clean up a little and wait until the rideshare was here before heading down so I wouldn’t spend a lot of time out in the open feeling the breeze.
Chapter 12
The Seventh Friday
Neil had acted upset all week. For the first time, I didn’t try to fix it. Going to the hotel with Isaiah was all his idea,andhe’d left me there. If anyone should have been upset, it was me.
I wasn’t mad, though. Mostly, I felt numb and tired. I deleted my profile on the hookup app. Isaiah had only told me something I’d known all along. I wasn’t made for hookups. Insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I wasn’t insane. I didn’t expect the hookups to be different, and I didn’t expect sex with Neil to be different.
It was time to do something new. So when Neil left for his “hall pass” date, I took a rideshare to The Muse, no longer wanting just fruit juice.
Sean lifted an eyebrow when I got out of the random vehicle. “Something wrong with your car?”
“Nope. I plan on getting really, really drunk.” I patted his arm when his mouth fell open and headed to my regular seat at the bar. Had someone else sat there when I didn’t come the week before? The thought made me sad.
Jack smiled when he saw me, helping to take that feeling away. “Hey, you. I was hoping you’d come when you didn’t text.”
“Here I am. No dates tonight, or likely ever again.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose. “Ever again?”
“Long story. Can I have a kamikaze shot? Do you know how to make those?”
Jack’s hands planted on the bar. “You want a shot?”
I looked around. “This is a bar, isn’t it?”
He frowned. “Is everything okay?”
Sean took the barstool next to me.
I held up a hand to ward him off. “Don’t try to talk me out of it.”
