Chapter 15
Fifteen
Conor
Someone nudges my shoulder, and I groan, rolling over. It feels as if my brain is sloshing around inside my skull.
“Get up, lazy ass.”
I slowly sit up, taking a minute to get my bearings, and find Henry standing at my bedside.
“Put some clothes on and come out to the family room,” he says before he leaves.
I wobble when I stand from the bed. My body aches as I throw on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.
Rowan, Tweetie, and Henry sit in the family room. There’s coffee on the counter along with some breakfast sandwiches from our favorite place. I pick up a coffee and sandwich before joining them in the family room.
“Did I really do it?” I squeeze my eyes shut for a beat because my head is pounding.
“Yep.” Rowan pops the ‘p’ on the end of the word.
I groan.
“Just ran in there and said I object,” Henry says with dad-like disapproval.
Tweetie just shakes his head at me.
I place my coffee on the table and open my sandwich. I’m starving. “You let me keep drinking when we got back here?”
“It was the only way to get you to stop fighting us. We had to cancel two Ubers,” Henry says.
“You owe me a hundred bucks for having to pay for the ride you booked, plus extra.” Rowan sips his iced coffee.
“I had a good night planned last night,” Henry says. “Jade looked so sexy in her pink dress. We booked a hotel, and I had roses on the bed, champagne ordered. But instead, I got to pick you up off the floor at Peeper’s and clean up your puke.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, man. Truly.” I ditch the sandwich and coffee, suddenly nauseated.
“Can we address the real problem here?” Rowan asks. “Why were you running into a church and stopping a wedding?”
I glance at Henry.
“I met Eloise last Saturday,” I confess.
Henry nods. “You kept telling everyone who would listen the story last night. Then the chipmunks caught me up what they told you. But most people would at least try to talk to the person before they bust into their wedding and objected.”
I turn to Henry. “What do you know about her?”
“According to you, the two of you have a shit-ton of chemistry, and she’s your one. So, you must know her better than me.”
I run my hand through my hair. “So, I might’ve gotten a little carried away. I was drunk. Where is she? I should apologize.”
Henry looks at Rowan and Tweetie. All three of them sigh.
“You’re just going to apologize and move on with your life?” Henry asks.
“No.” I scowl at him.
“Please tell me this isn’t a case of you wanting something you can’t have and now that she might be attainable, you don’t want her anymore,” Rowan says.
I think about what he’s saying, my hungover brain trying to catch up.
“Fuck, seriously? This is so messed up. Why are you pissing around in my pool of people? She’s Jade’s best friend.” Henry stands and walks out of the family room.
“What is going on with you? You’ve been off since we lost the Cup. And now this shit?” Tweetie sits up and rests his forearms on his thighs.
“Henry and Jade are gonna have a lot of shit Eloise will be invited to. So, now since you’re upset you couldn’t bag her, you go and ruin everything like some toddler having a tantrum.” Rowan leaves the room shaking his head, and I hear him and Henry talking in the kitchen.
“Hey,” Tweetie says, pulling my attention off the coffee table and over to him. “I get it. Seeing those two so in love can make it seem like you want it for yourself. But finding what they have isn’t for everyone. Not everyone gets to find their one. I’d go buy some knee pads because you have a lot of groveling to do.”
He leaves me too.
I sit on the couch, wrapping my head around everything they’re saying. The more their words rehash in my head, the angrier I become.
“You know what, assholes?” I stand from the couch and walk into the kitchen. “Fuck you. I know it wasn’t my brightest decision to run into her wedding and do what I did, but what I feel for her is real. I’m not five and so jealous of some other kid’s toy that I want to steal it away. You.” I point at Rowan. “You said yourself that you had a connection you couldn’t explain with Kyleigh. You just had the benefit that she wasn’t getting married to someone else.”
Rowan crosses arms but doesn’t say anything.
“And you.” I point at Henry. “Lucky bastard, you met the love of your life at ten years old.”
“Seven,” Henry corrects me.
I shake my head. “Whatever. And you.” I point at Tweetie.
“You got nothing on me.” He huffs, stretching his arms behind him, gripping the countertop edge.
“I fucking played in Florida, Tweetie. I heard about Tedi.”
His smile drops. “Don’t go there. You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“Besides Tweetie, you both went after what you wanted. Why am I getting shit on for doing the same?”
They all groan.
“Because you ambushed her wedding,” Henry says as though it’s obvious.
I throw my hands up at my sides. “I’m sorry, I’m a little late to the game, okay? I had to process my feelings for her.”
“And you were drunk.” Henry’s eyebrows raise.
“Fine. But the only person I owe an apology to is her. So, I’m going to your house, and I’m going to ask her to forgive me.”
“And?” Rowan arches an eyebrow.
“That’s between her and me.”
Nobody fights me on my plan.
“Well, you’d better shower and get that horrible smell off you if you want her to forgive you,” Rowan says.
Tweetie slaps me on the back. “I’ll get your kneepads.”
“I’m disgusted that you have kneepads,” Henry says with disdain.
“I’m a gentleman. I want my girls to be comfortable.” Tweetie winks.
We all groan, and I head to my bathroom to shower. As the warm water runs over my back, I consider what I’m going to say to Eloise to try to get her to forgive me. I can’t believe I was such a selfish asshole. Hopefully she’ll see that it was a moment of temporary insanity.