I leave her in the lobby but not before saying hi to Sebastian and Shayne, who are also there now with Avery. They invite me to join them, but I decline and head upstairs, knocking on Brie’s door. She doesn’t answer so I text her but she doesn’t answer that either so I call her. It goes to voicemail.
Fuck.
My chest tightens and I start to feel cold—on the inside. I don’t know how else to explain this sensation I used to get as a kid every time I felt rejected, by a classmate or another foster kid or when the social worker explained to me that my family couldn’t…wouldn’t take me. It’s this feeling of frost growing in my veins and I hate it. I’ve had little flickers of it resurface when I get traded from a team, but although one team is rejecting me another team wants me. But now the feeling is back with a vengeance. This is exactly fucking why I never wanted to be involved with someone. Because they’d reject me. Everyone always rejects me if I give them enough time to do it.
Fuck this.
I grab my phone and my wallet and storm out the door.
Six hours later I’m on the back end of buzzed, sliding face-first into full-on drunk. And it cannot come fast enough. I walked around town for about an hour aimlessly. I was hoping to find Brie but eventually I ran into Seb, Shayne, Steph and Avery, who were on their way to dinner. I joined them, refusing to talk about Brie when Steph tried to ask me the million questions she had about why I wasn’t with her right now. I barely touched my food while downing three scotches. Then the guys went to the local bar owned by Jordan and Devin’s younger brother Cole, to meet Luc, Jordan and Devin and the girls broke off and went to another to meet Rose. It was their version of a bachelor and bachelorette.
I didn’t try to text her or call Brie again. With every drink my resolve grew. She was cutting ties—just like I knew she would, just like everyone does—so I was going to let her. I would help her. Fuck this. The night though, was annoyingly low key. The guys just wanted to sit around Cole’s bar and play pool and shoot the shit. And by ten o’clock there were mutterings they were about to call it a night.
“Are you serious?” I asked. “It’s your last night as a free man and you’re turning in before midnight? Barely drunk? Luc, you’re doing this wrong.”
“I’m doing it very, very right my friend,” Luc replies and sips his beer, which I swear he’s been nursing for like an hour. I bet it’s even one of those ridiculous nonalcoholic ones. “Besides, I haven’t been a free man in years and I’m happy about it. This is just a piece of paper to make it legal to other people.”
“What about you two?” I ask turning to Jordan and Devin. “Let’s have some fun before you’re both on diaper duty.”
Jordan shakes his head. Devin grins. “Dude, Callie is in the horny stage of pregnancy. I’m not giving up any extra time at home right now, especially because my parents have Conner for the night.”
“Don’t you want to get back to the hotel to see Brie?” Sebastian asks me. “This is your first weekend away together as a couple isn’t it?”
“I need a fresh drink,” I announce and down the rest of my scotch. I start to stand to head to the bar, but Cole interrupts me.
“The waitress is on her way over,” he says and he turns to look at Luc with a devious grin. The next thing I know the future Mrs. Richard is strutting our way holding a tray in a short, even by my standards, jean skirt, a tight little tank top and cowboy boots.
I try not to let my jaw drop to the floor, because it’s inappropriate, but then I notice that every man in the place had their mouth hanging open. Still I snap mine shut and look at Luc who I think might try to hump her right here on the table judging by the look on his face. Behind Rose I see Callie, Jessie, the blonde Cole is married to, Len and Brie. Our eyes connect but she looks away.
“What can I get you boys?” Rose asks.
“Is this a role-playing wedding or something?” I whisper to Jordan who laughs.
“Rose used to work here,” he explains. “And dressed like that to get tips. And to drive Luc crazy.”
He grabs her by the waist and pulls him to her. “I need to take you home before someone else in this bar tries to.”
“I just have to finish my shift,” she jokes, and the next thing I know he’s picked her up, over his shoulder and is carrying her out of the bar.
“Wait! You can only keep her until midnight!” Callie is calling as she chases after them. “She’s sleeping at Jessie’s tonight or else it’s bad luck!”
Devin stands up. “I’m going to go get my superstitious wife and head home. Night guys.”
Jordan stands next and I almost tackle him to stop him as he reaches for Jessie. And then it happens, the way it always does, one by one my friends couple up and leave. Now it’s just Brie and Len standing awkwardly in front of the table where Chooch and I have been abandoned. Brie looks at me again. I stare back, trying to look like I’m not a giant mess inside. But I must be failing because Chooch, my only single ally left, stands up. He smiles at Len in his totally uncool, awkward way and clears his throat. “I know we’ve never met, but they seem to have some stuff to work out. Can I buy you a drink?”
“Sure.” Len smiles back at him all bright and bubbly like she always is.
“Rose is right,” I mutter more to myself than Brie, but she hears me.
“About what?”
“Well, a lot of things.” I stare at my empty scotch glass for a moment before looking up at Len and Chooch by the bar. “But today she’s right about that. Len is exactly the kind of woman Chooch needs.”
Brie looks over at them for a moment, her long hair falling over her shoulder and shielding her expression from me. “That’s Chooch, huh? He seems nice. Len needs nice.”
“He’s one of the best,” I say. “Almost too nice. He gets taken advantage of a lot.”
“Len too,” Brie replies and then turns back to me. I had all these ideas of pushing her away, playing it cool, being aloof. But now that she’s in front of me, looking beautiful but guarded and maybe a little weary, I just want to fix this. “I’m sorry. I should have told you I booked us separate rooms.”
