her.
“I didn’t want to interrupt the two of you. You seemed deep in conversation.”
“Not really,” she said lightly. “I was just keeping him company until you came back. It was kind of rude that you ditched him like that.”
“Okay, hold up,” Willa said, but I held out a hand to calm her as I kept my eyes straight on Beth.
“Your fucking legs were twined together, Beth. Drop the innocent act. If you want to fuck him, he’s all yours. And a man who’s going to let another woman swoop in like that was never really interested to begin with.” I stood and grabbed my purse. She stared at me without moving a muscle or changing her vacant expression. “You can leave with us or go with him, but we’re not staying.”
“Yeah, like I’m going to stay here and have you call me a man-stealing whore.”
I faced her. “The man-stealing part happened the moment you took my seat and stayed in it until I felt nice and rejected. Whether or not you go home with him now is just the cherry on top.”
“If you liked him, and you were bothered by us talking, you should have come back over and claimed him.”
“You knew I wouldn’t do that, Beth.” I stared her down. “You knew once I saw you two together like that I would back off.”
“I did not.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head. “I’m not going to fight over a guy.”
“Fine,” she said, raising her chin. “If you’re going to be stubborn about it, I may as well stay.”
“Bye, Felicia,” I said as she spun and marched over to him. My heart was in my throat and I thought I might puke. The other girls stayed miraculously silent as we walked from the bar, heads held high, never looking back.
“He’s watching your ass leave,” Rhea said. “Staring hard.”
“Good,” I muttered, pushing through the doors.
When we got in the car I turned it on with a shaking hand and cranked the heat. My jaw was locked. The girls were in tirade mode the whole way home, throwing out their best burns to make me feel better.
“It’s for the best anyway,” I told them. “He doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re.”
The car got quiet as they peered around at each other, and then we broke into laughter.
No more big, sexy dumbasses for me, thank you.
I stared at my phone as I lay in my squishy pallet. The first thing I’d done when I got home was unmatch from Ren. I’d thought of 10,387 petty things I could say to him, but they all made me sound like sour grapes. In the end I said nothing. I was bitter about being robbed of my kiss, though. I’d been feening for that intimacy.
Then I thought about Shawn. Was he with his fiancé and son tonight? Probably. I wondered how he was feeling? Were they snuggling in bed right now? Had they laughed together? Had she been excited to see him?
Ugh, I rolled to face the wall and pulled my legs up, hoping to ease the nasty eels writhing in my belly. I was still tossing and turning over an hour later when I heard Beth come in. My whole body went on alert and my ears strained to hear. Willa and Syd were in there on the couch watching TV since they were off tomorrow.
“So?” I heard Willa ask, and even from afar I could catch the attitude in her tone.
Beth’s small heels clicked the hardwoods into the long hallway/closet where she was probably changing. “Harlow should be thanking me,” she said, sounding bored and tired. “He just laid there like a lazy sack of shit and wanted me to ride him.”
“You poor thing,” Willa said, and I had to hold back a snort.
“Pretty sure Harlow doesn’t need to be thanking you for anything,” Syd said.
“What the hell does that mean?” Beth asked. “Oh, my God. Are you guys all mad at me?”
It got quiet, and I’m sure they were giving her “the look.” My heart swelled with love.
“Whatever.” Beth’s little feet stomped away. “I’m sleeping in the bunk room tonight.”
“’kay, byeee,” Willa sang. A door slammed, and I heard their dry titters. I bit my lip.
From a nearby bed Rhea said groggily, “I love those bishes.”
“Me too,” I whispered. And I finally fell asleep.
After four legs I was back in Newark by nine PM. Before I left the hub for home I went to the dispatcher window to see if they