Page 46 of F Buddy

It was entirely expected when she nodded her head, considering I’d heard from Olivia he’d be there even before she came to pick me up. And yet, my stomach still twisted uncomfortably just thinking about it. We were still by the door, and I knew if I moved into where the rest of the gang sat, I would be able to spot him. And he would see me.

I was tempted to run away, but Olivia was at my back and oblivious Sasha was at my front. I didn’t want to give her reasons to suspect I was holding back information from them. After Chad had asked who the father was in front of my friends and I’d come up with some bullshit lie, no one else had asked.

“He came here with someone,” Sasha said, taking my arm to lead me, probably thinking I just needed help getting around. “I think she’s the one they sent him off to Tokyo with.”

Immediately, I felt my blood freeze. “What’s her name?” I asked, even though I knew. There was only the one person, after all.

“I think her name was Abigail,” Sasha said slowly, then nodded. “I’m pretty sure, yeah.” Then she grinned, her suddenly happy expression filling me with dread. “And you’re never going to guess. We were all really surprised, you know? Because this is Zach we’re talking about. No one expected it.”

“What happened?” Olivia asked for me because I suddenly found my throat feeling very dry.

“He introduced Abigail to us and said she was his girlfriend!” Sasha exclaimed, not realizing the devastating effect her words had on me. “Isn’t that just amazing? He never tells us the women he comes with are his girlfriends, we just assume. But he’s going around introducing her as his girlfriend.”

Something in my chest clenched painfully, and my whole body trembled. I felt a comforting touch on my shoulder and shot Olivia a grateful look, but it would hardly be enough for me this time. Not with this.

Still, I moved unerringly forward.

The sight that met us was expected, but it still rooted my feet to the floor. Zach was there, and my heart gave a weak thump because it had been so long since I’d seen him. He was still a distance away, but there were no people between us, so I had a clear view.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Sasha said with a squeal in her voice. “Of course, this is Zach, and almost all his dates are beautiful. But he doesn’t usually stand so close to them, or let them join in the group as much as Abigail is.”

Sasha was right, and it only made my heart break even more. Abigail looked just as I remembered, only she had a nice, dark blue evening dress on instead of the skirt suit I’d seen her in before. She stood right against Zach’s side, and he had an arm around her as they chatted and laughed with some of our friends.

Seeing them this close, in a position I was pretty sure Zach wouldn't have had me in, made it all so much more real for me.

“Scarlett? What’s wrong?”

I blinked and looked down at Sasha, who had moved to stand in front of me, staring up at me with confusion. Probably wondering why I was just standing there staring stupidly ahead.

“Scarlett,” Olivia’s voice came from beside me.

I moved my gaze to meet hers, and the sympathy in there was the breaking point for me. I stumbled back, shaking off both of their hands. I wasn't in the mood to be comforted.

Leaving home was a mistake, I decided, before turning and rushing from the room.

Chapter 19

Zach

“Zach, wasn’t it beautiful, though?”

I looked down at Abigail, who had a hand pressed to my chest and was smiling up at me. We were surrounded by my friends, and they kept asking us about what Tokyo and work were like. I was barely talking, but Abigail did a pretty good job of answering everything, so they didn’t notice my distraction.

On cue, I smiled and answered with bland enthusiasm. “Of course, it was.” I wasn’t sure what we were talking about, but luckily no one seemed to realize anything was amiss.

Abigail smiled at me, but I could read the question in her eyes. She left me to my thoughts and turned back to my friends, and I immediately tuned their voices out.

I glanced around, looking for Chad. But it was crowded and no one ever seemed to stay at their tables, rushing around all over the place because it was Christmas and everyone was mingling. Hell, it hardly looked like a restaurant, they’d made some room for a dance floor, and there were people enthusiastically taking advantage of it.

Chad seemed to be avoiding me, and I wasn’t sure why. He was the one to tell me Scarlett was pregnant, and yet, when I got back and showed up with a girlfriend, he’d given me this look of absolute disappointment and made a point not to get near to me. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I had a feeling I’d missed something.

There was a part of me that was keeping an eye out for Scarlett. No one in the group seemed to know about what happened between the two of us so no one thought it odd when I asked whether Scarlett would be making it. They’d all looked shifty until I mentioned I knew about the pregnancy, and Sasha had confirmed she might make an appearance.

What would it prove, exactly, for me to shove Abigail in her face, just because I was hurt? It wouldn’t be fair to her, and yet, the idea of introducing Abigail as my girlfriend had been on my mind since I found out we could come back home for the holidays.

I wasn't consciously looking out for her. But my eyes landed on her and paused because there she was.

She wasn’t looking my way, and I took advantage of it to get my fill of her. The moment I saw her, my heart couldn't help but thump eagerly, because I could admit to myself that I’d missed her when we were apart.