Chapter 47
“I’m not going to be able to make it tonight. Something came up.”
“Alright,” I replied.
“You’re not upset?”
“No…” My brow furrowed. Should I be? “If something came up, something came up.”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.”
I hit the button on my steering wheel to end the call with Loralei as I headed back to the office from an afternoon lunch meeting. We were supposed to meet for dinner that night, but that wasn’t happening anymore.
Things with Loralei were…odd, to say the least.
I didn’t know if it was because we were new and still learning about one another—we’d barely known each other for three months and had been “official” for nearly two—but things with her still felt more casual than anything else. It made me question the purpose of her wanting to label it.
I meant it when I said I wasn’t upset about her canceling dinner tonight, though. Truthfully, I wasn’t in the mood to go out. I hadn’t been all week.
I’d been fucked in the head since my run-in with Morgan last weekend. I’d already felt all over the place, but that was the icing on the cake.
You have someone. You don’t need me anymore.
Those words were like a knife right to my chest, more so the latter because it couldn’t have been further from the truth, not in the way she believed, anyway.
My need for her was exactly the damn problem.
And thinking about that made me feel even shittier than I already did about what I was doing, all in the name of trying to bury and forget that need.
And I couldn’t shake the look on her face when she said it. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I swore I saw the briefest flicker of sadness in her eyes when she spoke those words. And that thought, even though it was far-fetched, twisted that knife even further.
I felt like I was spiraling.
My headspace didn’t get any better throughout the rest of the week.
By Saturday, I was on edge, testy, and heading to the batting cages with the guys, which I agreed to because I thought it might help relieve some of my frustration.
“You need to work on your form,” Chad quipped.
“Who the fuck invited this guy?”
“You did,” Gabe said, chuckling from outside the cage.
I scoffed before swinging the bat, driving the ball into the back net with a crack. That felt really fucking good.
I hit a few more before I stepped out. “Where’s Blake?”
“He’s on his way,” Gabe replied.
“There.” Lucas tipped his chin in a gesture, and we looked over to see Blake walking towards us.
“Hey, sorry. Things ran over a little later than I expected.”
“No worries,” I said, clapping his shoulder. We knew he’d come from a Saturday morning therapy session.
The way his eyes only briefly met mine before he nodded and looked away didn’t go unnoticed by me. He’d been doing that whenever he saw me the last couple of weeks. I shrugged it off, though. I knew he was going through some things.
While Gabe stepped into the batting cage, Lucas looked at me. “You seem on edge today.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“You don’t seem fine. You seem pissy,” Chad added.
“I’m not pissy.”
“What’s the matter? Trouble in paradise?” Lucas asked, half-joking.
I sighed. “Can we not?”
“Is that a yes?” Chad asked tauntingly. “Because if she’s gonna be on the market soon…” He trailed off with a laugh when I rolled my eyes. He’d been making comments like that ever since he first met Loralei a few weeks ago.
We went through a few rotations in the batting cage, each cracking the balls—except Chad, who claimed he played baseball in high school, but I think he meant T-ball.
“So, I wanted to ask you guys something,” Lucas said while we took a break. “I have to go to Monaco in a few weeks for work, and I was talking to Callie, and we were thinking about making it a group trip.”
My eyes lit up. “You mean I can finally go to your casino?”
Lucas chuckled. “Well, we were thinking about doing a joint bachelor slash bachelorette party of sorts since neither of us wants anything crazy. We can do our own thing, the girls will do their own thing, and then we can meet up a day or two before the end of the trip.”
Fuck. A joint bachelor slash bachelorette meant a trip to Monaco with Morgan. At least she’d be around, however, because she wouldn’t skip out on celebrating Callie because of some work excuse or “other plans.”
It felt like a double-edged sword.
And she wasn’t the only one who’d be going. “So, my sister would be coming on this trip?” I deadpanned. Haley was one of Callie’s bridesmaids, along with Grace.
I saw Blake’s eyes slide to me for a second before he looked back at Lucas.
“Yeah,” Lucas nodded with a chuckle. “Unless she can’t make it.”
“Well, you know I’m in,” I said.
“Me too,” Gabe agreed.
Blake nodded. “If that’s how you want to celebrate, I’ll be there.”
“Monaco, huh?” Chad chimed in.
Lucas looked at him, and I knew what he was going to do before he did it because it was just the type of person he was. “If you wanna come…”
“I don’t know if I can make it,” Chad replied. “I can let you know, though, but I appreciate the invite regardless, man.”
“Are you sure you wanna invite him?” I teased. “He can be rather obnoxious.”
Lucas chuckled, ignoring my comment. “I’ll talk to Callie and let her know you guys are on board, and we’ll get everything figured out.”
Just then, my phone chimed with an incoming message. I pulled it from my pocket to see a notification from Loralei.
Lora
Not feeling that great. Don’t think I’m going to come out tonight.
Okay. You need anything? I can swing by on my way.
No, I’m good, but thanks. Have fun tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow.
Okay.
Chad took off a short time later because he had something to do. Blake, Lucas, Gabe, and I went a few more rotations in the batting cage before we called it a day and headed home to relax before meeting up later.
When I walked into The Sandbar that night, I couldn’t help but wonder if Morgan was going to show.
When I neared the table, my eyes fell on the empty chair, giving me my answer.