CHAPTER 7
Quinn
We leave the boys and push our way through the packed bar toward the bathrooms. My feet are still aching but there’s a surprising lightness blooming in my chest. Probably from the tequila, I try to convince myself.
Yep, definitely not about the handsome stranger whose lap I was sitting on a minute ago.
“What was Chad whispering to you?”
Sophie groans, covering her face with both hands as she drags me into the cubicle with her. “He was like ‘let me show you what my mouth can do.’”
“Oh my God.” I pull a face at her, and we both cringe. “I still can’t believe you slept with him. He’s so…”
“Look,” she cuts in, already exasperated. “It was right after I lost that promotion to Julie, okay? Sorry that I don’t sleep my way up the corporate ladder. Seedy Steve isn’t even a CEO. Gross.”
She’s ranting now, reminding me of the daily “life podcast” updates she used to send. God, I missed those. I missed her.
Right now I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
Having her back in my life like this makes me ache a little for all the moments I shut her out, the voice notes I left unopened, and the plans I bailed on at the last minute.
Between being with Josh and the subsequent fallout, I wasn’t the friend she deserved.
“So…” she says, flushing as she gets up so we can switch places. “Are we going to talk about you and Cole being three seconds away from having sex?”
“Oh God. Was I that obvious?”
“Relax. You weren’t as obvious as him.” She smirks at my dumbstruck expression, then turns and lets us out of the stall. “I mean, he couldn’t reach for that lemon wedge fast enough.”
“He’s too cute to waste time on someone like me,” I mutter, half joking, half serious, because self-deprecation is basically my love language.
Guys like Cole don’t go for five-foot-four girls with faded brown hair, social anxiety, and an obsession with comfort show reruns. Josh loved to call me boring, but truthfully, I needed something predictable in a relationship that never was.
“Hey.” Sophie levels me with a look. “Stop. Don’t let Josh’s bullshit ruin your night. I swear, if he messes with your head again, I’ll send him a glitter bomb that smells like farts.”
“Oh my God, you would.” I laugh, trying to steady my hand as I swipe on lip gloss. The mirror wobbles a little in my vision, a reminder of just how much tequila is swimming in my system.
Sophie catches my eye in the mirror and grins. “Come on, let’s head back so you can get Cole’s number.” She fluffs her hair and runs a tongue over her teeth. “Ready?”
“Yeah, I need another shot first.”
“Same.”
We leave the bathroom, laughter still clinging to us, when my gaze catches on the very last thing I wanted to see. My body jolts with adrenaline, the kind that punches the air from my lungs.
My ex-fiancé stands across the room, his arm draped around another girl’s waist.
My feet cement to the floor, chest clamping tight as my breath stutters. I can’t move, can’t speak—like if I stay still enough, maybe he won’t notice me. But the sight of him slices through all my defences, memories flaring like open wounds.
Sophie notices instantly, her gaze following mine. “What the actual fuck—is that Josh?”
My stomach knots so hard I feel sick. He’s dressed up, of all things. A button-up shirt, pressed chinos, boat shoes. Clothes I never saw him wear for me. Not once in all our years together.
The girl at his side cranes her neck back to laugh at something he said, and he presses a kiss to her temple.
“Please, Soph. Get me out of here.” My words are broken, strangled.
Her hand clamps around mine, grounding me. But as she pulls me toward a side door, I glance back one more time and a familiar pair of blue eyes catch mine.
Brittany.
Heat floods my cheeks, shame and fury tangling in my chest. Every promise Josh made, every piece of myself I gave him, rushes at me. My heart feels like it’s splintering all over again right here in the middle of the bar.
She may as well have stomped on my heart in her filthy white sneakers.
I’m vaguely aware of Sophie tugging me toward a side door, but my eyes are locked on Brittany’s smug smirk as she flicks her tacky blonde extensions over her shoulder and leans into Josh.
Finally, they disappear as the door swings open and a blast of cool air hits us. I gulp it down like I’ve been underwater too long, but before I can steady myself Sophie tightens her grip on my hand, jaw set, practically dragging me through another door.
The air shifts again: faintly musty, carrying the scent of cardboard and cleaning supplies. Sophie lets the door click shut behind us, pressing her back against it like she’s guarding the entrance.
“Do you think he saw us?” Soph asks as I slide down the wall, my legs too wobbly to hold me up.
I shake my head. “He didn’t. But she did.”
“Who was that girl he was with? Do you know her?”
“Brittany.” I sigh, kneading at the skin under my thighs and relishing the pinch.
“Wait—Tyler’s sister?”
“Yeah.” My words come out on barely a breath as I concentrate on stemming the tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
“That sneaky bastard,” Sophie mutters, eyes blazing. “I swear, Q, if I had a drink in my hand, I would’ve thrown it right in his face. What the actual fuck.”
Picturing Josh’s shocked expression, tequila sunrise splattered across his white shirt, gives me a petty flicker of satisfaction. I know she means it too, but the last thing I need is more drama. Worse would be giving him even a morsel of proof that I still care.
“I don’t understand why I feel this way.”
“This is just what he does. He loves being in control. Even when you ended things, he needed to twist it so it looked like his choice. That’s the kind of game he plays.”
She’s right. I thought the ball was finally in my court, that for once I’d get to walk away on my terms. But he snatched that too, twisting the plot so he could make the last move.
“Why would he message me when he came here with her?”
Sophie’s mouth twists. “Because that’s what he does,” she repeats. “He wants you spinning, second-guessing yourself. It’s been a fucking year,” she hisses. “He’s not messaging because he misses you, he’s doing it to prove he still can.”
Her words slice through me because they’re true. I can’t believe I actually thought I was ready to get Cole’s number tonight. Clearly, I’m not. Not when the ghost of Josh can still gut me this easily.
“I need to go home,” I say finally, tears spilling down my face.
Sophie comes over to me, holding out her hand, “Okay. Let’s go back to mine. You don’t need to be alone tonight.”
I nod, my voice caught somewhere between relief and exhaustion. “Okay.”
I wipe at my cheeks, probably smearing makeup everywhere. I hate that even now, a part of me still wanted him to look back just once. I grab my purse and scoop up whatever scraps of dignity I can from the filthy storage room floor. Just as I steady myself to stand, the door swings open.