all assholes to one another. We can have a civil fucking conversation with each other,” Seth said back, his voice raised.
Naomi held up her hands in a gesture meant to calm him. “Hey, I’m not the bad guy here.” She tilted her head in the direction Vince went. “And neither is he. He’s just having a bad moment. He’s struggling.”
“We’re all fucking struggling!” Seth pounded his fist to his chest. Nicole quickly stood and wrapped her arms around him. It was the first time since meeting Seth that I could see the anguish rip right through him. His entire body shook, from his jaw to his fist on his chest.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Nicole shushed, squeezing him tightly.
It was almost too much to witness as an outsider. Seeing such raw emotion displayed when they had all been so happy and jovial this week despite the circumstances was breaking my heart. My gaze found Liam’s. There was a storm brewing behind his eyes. Seth was right; this wasn’t easy for anyone. They were all struggling. And maybe some of their outward displays of happiness had been forced, to push past the pain that was ever-present beneath the smiles and laughter.
I wasn’t a part of this friend group; I was a newcomer. But in some weird way, I felt ownership of them. Their pain, seeing it on their faces, affected me. I had grown to care for them all and witnessing their vulnerabilities was making me vulnerable, too.
Nicole and Seth turned and walked off for a moment, Nicole rubbing Seth’s back as she said things the rest of us couldn’t hear.
Chad nodded at Naomi, who stood still, as stunned into silence as I had been. Wordlessly, Liam and Chad began packing everything up as Naomi caught up to Vince.
Unlike our arrival which had been teemed with excitement, our departure was painted with a melancholy quiet. Liam and Chad loaded up the side-by-sides, speaking only when necessary, and then Chad waved to us as he jogged off to join Naomi and Vince at their car.
Nicole and Seth rejoined us after Vince had left. “Sorry about that,” Seth said, his eyes red-rimmed. He pulled his sunglasses off his head and put them on his face.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I said. “You were right.” I glanced at Liam a moment. Leaning against his truck, his arms were crossed over his chest as he stared at the ground.
“I don’t know if I want to even go to dinner tonight, man,” Seth said to Liam. “I just feel like it’s going to be a shit show.”
“It’s our last dinner before the funeral,” Nicole reminded him gently. “One dinner.”
“It was supposed to be a fun ride in the desert too,” Seth said, frustration laced in his words. “But fuck that, I guess.” He turned and walked away to his car.
“Sorry,” Nicole said with a sad smile. “We’ll see you at dinner.” Turning, she followed her fiancé back to their car.
Liam opened my door and I was about to climb in before I stopped. Turning, I took him in. “Are you okay?”
He nodded as if he was going to answer automatically—but maybe not entirely truthfully. He exhaled and said, “No, probably not. It’s been a long week. And, like Seth, I’m not looking forward to dinner tonight. Being trapped at a table with Vince sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“How about we make a plan? If Vince acts like an asshole, we’ll leave. Back to the hotel or your house, I don’t care. I know he’s your friend and I know you care about him, but you can’t let him keep talking to you like that. That made me really angry.”
“I know. You tried to jump in.”
“I did. And I will again if need be. You remember Katy? I think I told you that I was invited on that bachelorette trip to kind of keep her bitchiness in check. Because that’s what I do. I stand up for people I care about.”
With that statement, Liam turned to face me. “You care about me?”
I furrowed my brow. “I can’t believe you would think I didn’t.”
“You don’t talk to me about how you feel. I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s only been a handful of days since we said vows to one another, and I still can’t get a read on you.”
It was both a comfort and disconcerting. When I had been at his home, holding George, a mix of complicated emotions fluttered to the surface. I worried he could see