being a douche bag,” Grant laughed, holding up his shot.
Zach tilted his head sideways. “Not sure I’ve outgrown it. You were hell bent on coming between us. Douchebaggery was my only option,” he chuckled, but I knew him well enough to know he was serious too.
We shot back another. My mouth was on fire. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise so I couldn’t scream.
Ryan held up a glass after he refilled them all. “Here’s to knowing Runt will be taken care of forever.”
“Cheers to that,” Zach said. “And you best not let her hear you call her that.”
We shot another back.
“Hey, Runt!” Ryan shouted, and we all shifted around to see Emma flip him off from across the room.
Someone tugged on my shirt. Phoebe stood there, eyes red and puffy. “What’s up?” I asked nonchalantly.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Yeah, in a minute.”
I filled the shot glasses this time. My chest burned with the traces of alcohol hugging my esophagus all the way down to the pit of my stomach. I’d not been drunk in ages. I held the shot glass high in the air and looked right at Zach.
“Here’s to Emma choosing the right guy for her.”
He nodded, we touched our shot glasses and drank. Then my stare fell to Phoebe. “It’s always telling when a girl chooses the person that’s right for her.”
Her face crumpled. “Don’t, ok?”
I stepped past her and went outside away from her. Away from everyone. Rarely did I lose my shit, but I was damn near close.
“Austin, please.” Of course, she followed. “Austin.”
“What, Phoebe?” When I spun around, the venom in my voice shocked her. I could tell by the injured look on her face. I stuck out the tip of my tongue. “See that?”
She looked at my tongue.
“The ‘fuck off’ that’s sitting on the tip of my tongue.”
The wounded green eyes destroyed me, but I shrugged it off. She had picked Nick. If she was choosing him, I needed to back of anyway.
“Nick’s been that go-to person for a long time. You’re here. He’s there. I panicked. I needed to get to Sloan.”
My shoulders jetted up and down. “Sounds like you found your guy.”
“Please don’t. It isn’t like that.”
“Bullshit, Phoebe. Who was the first person you thought to call to help you? Definitely not me. That says it all, doesn’t it?”
“You don’t understand.” When her hand reached for mine, I held it out of her reach.
Frustrated, she threw her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
I broke her embrace as gently as I could. “Look. It’s fine, Phoebe. It’s something I needed to know, and this let me know. Better now than later. Let’s go back in and say our goodbyes. Then I’m going back to the house and crashing.”
Back at the house, I intentionally changed in a different room; my buzz rocked pretty good. There was no doubt tomorrow my heart would hurt more than I was allowing it to that night. No way would I allow her to play me. I’d paid her for this, and once the wedding was over, we would call it good. She could explain to the kids exactly why I wasn’t there anymore. Her fear comes true. The thing was…I had absolutely no idea how to start getting over her. There were so many things about her already engrained in my mind and soul. I’d fucking fallen faster than ever.
I crawled into my bed, refusing to let my thoughts wonder where she was then suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Shit.
“Austin?” she said softly from behind me.
I flipped over. “What?” I asked gruffly.
“I need your help,” she said, crying.
A slow inhale calmed the heat flooding my bloodstream. Those tears on her cheeks washed my anger away.
“They told Nick no. He couldn’t pick her up.” She hiccupped a cry and collapsed to her knees. “Austin, I’ll give you the money back. I haven’t cashed the check. Please. I don’t need a call to DCF.” Plump tears slid down her cheeks, driving a fucking dagger in my chest. She had to have known I’d help her.
Tossing the covers back, I stood, slid on some shorts and padded to the door. “I’ll be back.”
PHOEBE
Curled up alone in Austin’s bed, I’d cried, stopped, cried, stopped and cried again while waiting for him to come back. I’d sold out and left the kids all because of money. All I was doing was hurting them and hurting Austin too. His lingering scent on the sheets sent my heart