I already feel the loss.
Plastering on a nervous smile, I follow everyone and stand around the table waiting for something to happen — but everyone’s looking at me.
Why are they looking at me?
“Do I have something on my face?” I ask, touch my cheek as they all chuckle.
“You’re the adult here, blushy. Toast us away.”
Levi winks at me as Bash hastily agrees, sending alarm bells ringing in my head, my heart, my stomach, and also my cock. Levi needs to quit doing that.
“I’m terrible at this sort of thing, but here goes. Bash, you’re welcome.” I pause to see if anyone laughs, but no one does, and it just makes me more nervous. “That was supposed to be funny, but fine. Jokes aside, I’ve never met two people the universe was rooting for more than you guys. From your childhoods to now, your paths crossed for a reason. You’ve always needed each other, and I’m over the moon to know you’ll always have each other now. Mainly because that means I don’t have to find people willing to sleep with you now, but anyway.”
Bash grimaces as Alaina looks at him like he’s in trouble, but I can see it’s playful. They aren’t the type of people to hold their pasts against each other, they’d both be hypocrites. “Yeah, you’re right. You’re terrible at this,” he jokes, and of course everyone laughs. He claims he’s kidding and holds up his shot glass with a grin when I roll my eyes. “I’d be lost without you, Sid, and you’re right. Our paths crossed twice for a reason, and now I’m going to make sure we stay on the same one. Here’s to never giving up on the ones that love us the way we don’t realize we deserve. When you take your shot, I want you all to think about who that person might be for you, and make a choice to love them back the same.”
I feel Levi staring at me, and when I dare to toss a fleeting glance his way, I find him frowning. He almost looks sad, but instead of saying anything, he tosses his shot back and leaves the circle just as I take mine, realizing with a jolt that Levi filled it with water for me.
It’s so unexpectedly sweet that I want to follow him and hug him, but something tells me that would be a bad idea.
“To be fair, I wasn’t done,” I mumble. “But yeah, it’s probably best you finished it. Sorry, guys. I love you both and I really am happy for you.”
I just wish I was happy for myself.
Chapter Three:
Eating My Heart Out
Levi
I’m four shots deep and staring at this dickhole Sid brought way too much. I just don’t get it, he doesn’t seem like Sidney’s type at all, and everything he says is fucking stupid.
“It’s going to be me,” Jonah says, and my attention shifts to him abruptly.
“Huh? Why the fuck would you be the best man when I exist?”
“Because Bash wants someone he can count on, not someone who gets fucked up on Wednesdays for fun,” he snaps back, sticking his tongue out and laughing at me. “No fucking way it’ll be you.”
“Wouldn’t the best choice be Sidney?”
Oh great, dickhole has an opinion. Who gave him permission to speak?
“Are you saying Jonah’s a piece of shit too? That’s fucked up, you just met him.”
And he’ll hate you like I do, we all will. Fucking leotard twat.
