Stuck With Me - Melissa Brown Page 0,86
for Trupti. “Hey, babe, everything okay out here?”
“Turn around, walk away.”
“What?” Craig looked clueless.
“I’m not playing, man. Don’t come near me right now.”
“He knows,” Trupti said, standing between us, her face defeated. “He knows about the Christmas party.”
A satisfied prick of a smile crossed Craig’s face. “Yeah, well, you snooze you lose.”
“You’re a piece of shit,” I sneered at him. “Always were. An unmotivated, sleazy piece of shit.”
“Oh what the fuck ever. You treated everyone like they were beneath you.”
“Fuck you, dude. You are beneath me.”
“Whatever, dude. You walked around that office like your shit didn’t stink. Someone needed to knock your ass down.”
“You’re a piece of trash.” I glared at him before glancing at Trupti. “The two of you deserve each other. Have a nice fucking life. And never come back to this place. It’s mine,” I said, walking past them and back into the bar.
The stale smell of beer and the sounds of announcers from the TV were slightly comforting as I made my way to the bathroom. I needed to splash some water on my face and try to get my shit together.
When I got back to the table, everyone was silent until Lyra started in on me. “What happened out there? I saw you talking to Trupti.”
“Nothing; it’s nothing.”
“Here, man,” Scott said, sliding a couple shots of Tito’s my way. “Got these for you to take the edge off.”
“Take the edge off of what?” Lyra demanded.
“Thanks, man.” I downed each shot, feeling the familiar burn of the vodka at the back of my throat. Again, it comforted me slightly, but not enough. Even being near Lyra wasn’t helping me out of the fucking abyss I was in.
“What happened, Dev?” Lyra pushed.
“Just drop it, okay? Nothing happened.”
“Whatever,” she muttered under her breath, grabbing her purse and walking away. Maren and Allison followed her toward the bathrooms.
“Okay, it’s just us. What the hell happened?”
“She fucked Craig days before I was going to propose. Fucking whore.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
“I mean, I knew Turnip was a pill, but I didn’t know she was this bad.”
“Wait, what did you say?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. Peter got a guilty look on his face.
“Well, now that you’re definitely never getting back with her, it’s probably okay to tell you this.”
“We call her Turnip,” Scott said. “We always hated her, man.”
“Oh my God.” I looked up at the ceiling. “Turnip? Really?”
“Sorry,” Pete said with clenched teeth and a shrug. “It starts with a T. It just came out of my mouth one night after too many beers.”
“And we went with it,” Scott said with a chuckle, sliding another shot of Tito’s my way.
“No, no, it’s hilarious, I just…I’m too fucked up to laugh right now.” I raised the shot glass. “Adios, Turnip.”
The guys raised their glasses and said “adios” in unison.
Scott hopped up. “I’ll get another round.”
“Make that two.”
“You got it.”
“I know I should go after Lyra, but dude, I just can’t right now. I’m too pissed off.”
“She’ll come back soon. They can’t stay in the bathroom all night.”
I pressed my hand to my head, feeling the Tito’s finally kicking in and numbing my nerves just a little. “I mean, I can’t fucking believe this. I can’t believe I ever got back together with her in the first place.”
“You didn’t know, man. Don’t beat yourself up because she can’t keep it in her pants. She’s manipulative and controlling, and now we know she’s a cheater too.”
“Yeah. But I’m a dumbass because I fell for it. I fell for all of it.”
Scott returned with three more shots and I grabbed two of them, downing them one after the other. I had to ease this pain that coursed through every inch of my body.
“Dev,” Lyra said from behind me. “We need to talk.”
“Lyra, c’mon, just give me a minute, okay?”
“No, now. Outside.” She stood with her hands on her hips, her expression stony and her lips pressed together in a thin line.
“Fine,” I said, prying myself off the barstool. “After you.”
When we got outside, I attempted to put my arm around her, but she pushed me away.
“What the hell?”
“What really happened out here?”
“Nothing. She was just trying to get me all riled up.”
“Well, it certainly worked. You’re a mess.”
“Trupti means nothing, okay? I don’t want her.”
“Trupti means nothing. Abby means nothing. Oh, and Malika means nothing too. I see how it is,” she said, placing her hands on her hips.
I rolled my eyes; my words slurred from my mouth. But in my head, everything