Page 115 of Vegas with my Ex’s Best Friends

Portland was somewhere to go when I didn't know what else to do.

That's not the same thing as somewhere to stay.

I'm doing it again. Not running from something. Toward nothing. Getting out ahead of the damage so I can tell myself I was the one who chose to go.

I press my palm against my stomach.

Jules said I can literally hear it happening. Like it was already decided. Like she could hear me choosing before I knew I was choosing.

I close the app.

I grab my bag, throw in the few things I brought with me, and text the group chat before I can think too hard about it.

Riley: Coming to you. Hotel lobby in twenty. I need to see you.

The replies come back fast.

Liam: Thank fuck.

Andrew: On our way.

Ethan: We’ll be there.

I slip on my shoes and reach for the door.

“Riley.”

Connor’s voice. I turn.

He’s standing in the hallway, still wearing the same shirt from last night. His face has the look of someone who’s been rehearsing something and finally ran out of time.

“You’re leaving,” he says.

“I’m not running.” I keep my voice even. “I’m choosing them. I told you that yesterday.”

He steps closer, not blocking me, just not moving aside either. His eyes go to my bag, then back to my face. “You really believe four people can hold this together? A baby in the middle of it?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “But I know what happens if I walk away. I’ve lived that. I’m not doing it again.”

He looks at me For a long moment. The argument goes out of him.

“I love you,” he says. “That hasn’t changed.”

“I love you too. But you don’t get to choose for me anymore.”

He doesn’t try to stop me when I open the door. He just watches me go, and I let that be enough for now.

The elevator ride down lasts approximately forever. I watch the numbers drop and try to breathe normally. My hands are steady. The rest of me isn’t quite.

The doors open into the lobby and I spot them before I’ve taken three steps.

They’re near the far end of the entrance. Liam is pacing—I know that walk, the one where his whole body can’t hold still. Andrew stands with his back against a pillar, arms crossed, watching the elevator bank. Ethan stands a half step behind them, phone in his hand, not looking at it.

Liam sees me first.

He moves before the others do. I’m barely across the lobby when he reaches me and pulls me into his chest hard enough that I have to catch my breath. He doesn’t say anything right away. Just holds on, face buried in my hair. He smells like coffee and hotel soap and something underneath that’s just him, and I press my face into his henley and hold on too.

“Fucking finally,” he mutters.