38. Lilah #3
With my hand smacked over my mouth, I tried to push my way outside, but too many bodies were crammed in here, all trying to celebrate, network or gloat. My only escape from the crush without bursting into tears and puking in front of everyone was the bathroom.
Multiple voices called after me, but the door was already closing.
I locked it behind me and rushed to the closest stall.
All that food I’d mechanically chewed and swallowed came right back up.
Bent at the waist, hands braced on the bowl, tears flowed as the last bits of everything left my stomach.
After I was done, I wiped my mouth, not wanting to mess up my dress and feeling even dumber for wearing it tonight.
On shaking legs, I leaned against the cool stall wall. Insistent knocks on the bathroom door were like pounding spikes inside my head.
At least I’d locked the door. No matter who was coming after me, I didn’t want to talk to them. Couldn’t talk to them.
Facing myself in the mirror, with my running mascara and broken blood vessels in my face, I walked to the sink.
The cold running water wasn’t enough to stop the tears.
I splashed water on my face, not caring if my makeup smeared even more, but I remained hunched over so I didn’t get any water on my dress.
It might be the only thing safe tonight.
Certainly, my pride and my heart weren’t.
Mason had cheated? At least that was what his dad implied. I’d have laughed it off if the past hour hadn’t fractured the trust I had in him.
What had he told the rest of Havoc about me not being his date for tonight? Had they even cared? They were happy to be friendly and even friends with me when I’d been on Mason’s good side, but I couldn’t count on even a hint of loyalty from any of them. I couldn’t even count on that from Mason.
A sob choked me.
Heavy banging on the door started up again, followed by even more noise over the sounds of the crowd beyond the bathroom alcove. Deep, jagged breaths serrated my lungs. I wanted to curl up on the floor and hide, but I couldn’t stay here forever.
A less frantic, more authoritative knock hit the door. “Ma’am, are you okay in there?”
The heavy thunk of the lock being thrown by a key.
And just like that, my hiding space disappeared.
The door opened and Rye pushed inside. His collar was disheveled and one side of his lip was swollen.
“Lilah.” He sighed and pulled me into a heavy hug, so strong it lifted my feet off the ground. With a sweep of his arm, he wrapped his suit coat around my shoulders. Arm wrapped around my shoulder, he half carried, half guided me out of the building to his car.
I turned my face toward the window and buried my face in the sleeve of his coat. Heavy, choking sobs wrenched free of my throat.
“Lilah,” Rye said gently and rested a hand on my shoulder.
I jerked away from him and hit my forehead on the window. “Was this what you wanted?”
“No, Lilah.” The misery in his voice did nothing to soothe me. “What did his dad say to you?”
“He wanted me to be a long-term hooker Mason could enjoy at Rhode Island. But don’t worry. He said I’d get a really nice severance package when Mason got tired of me.”
“Sonofabitch.” Rye fumed and jerked the wheel, taking a sharp right. “He’s a piece of shit. You’ve got more self-respect in your toenail. You’d never touch a cent from him.”
My eyes burned, my sinuses were on fire, and my head throbbed. Huddled against the door, I clung to the handle, ready to jump out of Roxy at the last lamppost glow of Willowcrest. My sobs turned to hiccups.
I wanted this night to end. I wanted to curl up in a ball on my bed and wake up tomorrow with this all having been a terrible dream, but the pain in my chest told me every bit of it was real.
I glanced out the window. The streets and turns weren’t lining up with Willowcrest. “Rye, where are you going?”
He gripped the steering wheel tighter and the car accelerated through a yellow light.
“No, Rye.” I grabbed his shoulder. “Take me home.”
“So he can crawl back to you with excuses. It’s all bullshit, Lilah.”
“I’ll deal with Mason.” What that looked like, I didn’t even know. I should’ve taken the summer course option—a nice faraway place to be in only a month. My stomach flip-flopped in my throat. Another stupid mistake when it came to Mason.
“How are you going to deal with him?” Rye’s whole body screamed battle ready. His lip had gotten bigger.
“I don’t know yet, but it’s not up to you.”
“What kind of best friend would I be if I let him get away with this?”
“One who listened to your best friend and didn’t do anything stupid.”
Galen’s modern marvel of a house lit up the end of the street in front of us.
Short of leaping from the moving car, there was nothing I could do.
Rye put it in park haphazardly behind other cars parked there and charged ahead. Walk home and let whatever went down happen or go in after him were my only options.
I took off running in my heels. Rye was inside before I’d even hit the stairs leading to the oversized door.