Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Where?” I ask.
“Downtown…we’ll barhop until we find the ladies.”
Since I have nothing else to do and don’t want to think about her anymore, I agree. We plan to meet in a couple of hours, so I take a shower and get ready for a possible disaster.
“Duuuuude. Ya came!” Jase wraps me in a bear hug against my will, and I try to relax.
“You coerced me with free liquor.” I shrug.
“I gotchu. Four double shots of tequila.”
My eyes widen, then blink a few times at the shot glasses lined up. “Jesus.”
“Gotta find you a rebound. Can’t let you do it sober.” He hands me one, then clinks it with his. “Bottoms up, Harding!”
I’m usually a beer guy, but I shoot it down because why the hell not?
“By the end of the night, you’ll be pushing the girls off ya,” he reassures, handing me the second one. “You won’t even remember their names in the mornin’.”
“If we keep this up, I won’t know my name.”
Jase laughs, and we slam the tequila down. When I can’t taste the liquor anymore, I switch to beer.
This goes on for hours.
Eventually, we make our way to the dance floor and find a group of ladies. My mind is clear for the first time in weeks, and I relish it. The more I drink, the happier I feel, and I don’t give a shit that I’ll pay for it tomorrow.
My head throbs when I open my eyes and find the bright sun beaming through the half-opened curtains. Fuck, I forgot to close those last night but am glad I made it back to my room at least. The night is one gigantic blur, and I’m pretty certain I was one drink away from alcohol poisoning.
Jase is a bad influence, and apparently, I can’t say no.
He kept feeding me shots, then we met some girls. Between the loud music, barhopping, dancing, and alcohol—a hangover doesn’t give justice to how shitty I feel right now.
When I throw off the covers, I realize I’m buck-ass naked and not alone. Then I vaguely remember one of the girls coming back to my room. Most of last night is fuzzy, but I know we had a ton of fun.
Deciding to get in the shower, I leave her in the bed and start the hot water. As I wash off the night, more details flood in.
Kissing her felt foreign because I haven’t touched a woman besides Bella in years, but I actually felt something that could turn into more. Though I’m not sure I’m emotionally ready for a relationship, I won’t allow what Bella did to hold me back either. I refuse to give her that sort of power over me.
My heart races as I wrap a towel around my waist and contemplate asking the woman sleeping in my bed out for lunch. I’d love to know more about her, and maybe she can recall the events of what happened when we came back last night. But unfortunately, that part of my memory is fuzzy too.
“You son of a bitch.” Bella appears as soon as I open the bathroom door and throws a pillow at me. I catch it and toss it aside. “You just couldn’t wait to get into bed with some slut, could you?”
“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” I glance around the room, noticing the bed is now empty. “What’d you say to her?”
“Nothing that wasn’t the truth,” she states with venom in her tone. “So I guess we’re even now, right? You got your revenge even though I apologized.”
I’m disgusted that she thinks this has anything to do with her. When I walk over to my suitcase, I pull out some joggers and a T-shirt.
“I didn’t do it to get back at you. Believe it or not, I don’t sleep with people out of spite.”
When I first caught her cheating, she tried to blame me for seeking affection somewhere else. Bella claimed I worked too much, and when I was home, I was too tired to give her attention. Hell, I worked twelve-hour days and got stuck in traffic for two. Then after I wouldn’t give in to her reasoning for breaking my heart, she said she only did it to get me to notice her and not take her for granted.
More bullshit.
Nothing I did warranted her sleeping with my brother and getting pregnant with his baby—then lying about it being mine. I put her on a pedestal and treated her like a queen. Her actions showed me how much I meant to her.
“I need to get dressed. You know where the door is.”
“We need to talk about this, Grayson. You went out and had your little fun, so now it’s time for you to come home.”
Instead of arguing, I grab my clothes and go back to the bathroom. I don’t bother assuming she’ll be gone after I’m dressed and avoid her stare when I come back out.