“Come with me. I need a drink, too,” Luke said, always in charge, holding out his hand for her. “And then we dance!”
She took his hand and let him drag her off. The camera focused on the dance floor while the guys chatted. Mia waited for what she knew was to come. She barely controlled the urge to bounce on the balls of her feet.
“Mia, sit down. You’re making me anxious,” Marty said.
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Marty urged.
“I know full well what happens this night. The only thing I don’t know is what Marc recorded. And after the earlier video, that scares me.”
“What did you do?” Todd asked, grabbing her arm and spinning her to face him. She emphatically shook her head.
“Not answering that.”
“Mia,” Ethan spoke, his voice gentle yet firm. He eyed the empty seat next to him. When she hesitated, he said her name again. She exhaled and returned to sit next to her husband. He leaned into her and she felt his warm breath against her ear. “It’s okay, suga.”
God, she sure hoped so.
Her focus returned to the video. She was happy that this existed but then she wasn’t because of this situation right now. It’s one thing to hear about your lover’s exes, but to see them with them—torture. But Allie and Ethan wanted it. What could she do?
Ethan put his arm across the top of the love seat. She leaned back and let him caress her shoulder because she needed him to calm her down.
Tom came back with two drinks in his hands. He downed the first drink and slammed the empty glass onto the table and raked a hand through his hair as he stared out on the dance floor. She wondered if he was staring at her and Luke dancing.
Marc set down the camera and it focused on some of the table including Tom and a lot of the dance floor.
“Hey,” came Marc’s voice. “I’ll be back in a few. Watch the camera for me?”
Tom nodded. A few moments later, he stretched out and pulled his cell phone from his front pocket. He punched the numbers with his fingers and returned his gaze to the dance floor.
“Hi, Lizzie,” he spoke into the phone. “Yeah, I’m at a club tonight with a bunch of friends … Yes, she’s here … Because her ex-boyfriend showed up and whenever he comes around, she goes MIA for a bit and then when he leaves, we all help her pick up the pieces.”
How true was that? She looked around the room at all of them. They knew exactly what Tom was talking about. They were always there for her. Every single goddamn time.
“Watching over her while she drowns in alcohol or worse,” Tom listened to Lizzie, clearly frustrated by Mia’s choices.
“Fuck, Mia,” Luke exclaimed. Mia winced and paused the video and let her best friend yell. “Tell me what Tom is talking about.”
“What do you think he’s talking about?” she shot back. She hated talking about her drug use with him.
“Goddamn it! Why do I always have to drag the truth out of you? Why can’t you just tell me?”
She should have told him the truth—Because I am ashamed. So ashamed of how I acted back then. But instead she said, “You saw the video earlier! That’s what he is talking about! That was me for four years! I’ve told you this.”
“No. You haven’t.”
“Well, now you know,” she replied smartly, glaring at him and the anger in his eyes. She didn’t see that very often. Time to diffuse the situation. “You dealt with our separation one way. I dealt with it another. Your way would probably have been a lot more fun.”
He cracked a grin and she knew it’d be okay. Humor solves the problem yet again.
“We’re not finished talking about this.”
“I know,” she said.
“You will talk to me.”
“I will,” she agreed with a placating smile.
“Start the video again,” he ordered.
She tapped the play button on the iPad and the video began again.
“Shut up, Elizabeth McCullough.”
Everyone in the room chuckled at Tom addressing her by her full name. “What did you say?” Marc asked her.
“I don’t remember,” Lizzie answered and looked off. Mia wasn’t the only one riding an emotional roller coaster tonight. Lizzie must have felt Mia’s eyes on her because she turned and looked at Mia.
Mia mouthed, “Are you okay?”
Lizzie nodded, but her smile was sad.
The two of them would sit down and talk soon, she just knew it. Part of her wasn’t