Inseparable

I laughed through my tears and sat back, putting my arm around Lindsey. She rested her head on my chest and cried, sipping her drink through sobs. We looked absolutely insane sitting in the middle of the bar, having complete emotional breakdowns. This girl meant the world to me, and I could never be mad or upset at her. I might find myself green from envy at times since she had the perfect life, at least from where I was sitting, but I could never dislike her.

Several people walked by, looking over at us like we were crazy. I grabbed a napkin off the table and handed it to Lindsey. She sat up and blotted her eyes, sniffling as she looked over at me.

“We need to pull it together,” I said. “People are staring at us.”

“Oh, fuck them.” She laughed. “They are just jealous because they don’t have you as their best friend.”

“You’re crying because you’re drunk.” I laughed. “And I’m crying because my hormones are attacking me like an army. We are a complete and total disaster.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t want to be a disaster with anyone but you,” she said.

“And Jordan,” I pointed out.

“No, I would give him up for my bestie any day,” she said, hugging me.

“For some reason, I think that’s a lie, but I am going to pretend that it’s the truth,” I said, giggling. “We will get our shit together one day.”

“Soon,” she said, pointing at me and clearing up her crying. “Right now, though, I have shots to take, and you have good thoughts to think.”

I nodded and watched her bounce off to the bar. She was such a mess, but I didn’t know how I would have survived all of this without her.

Chapter 22

Nathan

I had been hearing about the bachelor party since the day after. I got a call from the guys letting me know they moved the passed-out stripper to the regular elevator and cleaned up from the party. I appreciated their attempt to save face, but I was pretty sure the hotel would know exactly where the passed-out stripper had come from. I was glad to be done with it, though, and I couldn’t wait until the whole wedding thing was over. Just as I thought that, Jordan appeared in my doorway, smiling.

“Hey, man,” I said.

“Hey,” he replied.

I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Jordan at all since the bachelor party. I heard stories about a dance-off he did and the fact that he refused to let the strippers do anything other than dance on him, but I had been trying to avoid talking to him in person. The guys were great, but he was in love, and love made me sick to my stomach at this point. I just wanted to feel better, but I knew that would take a lot more booze.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since Friday,” he said. “I wanted to stop by and thank you for throwing the party. My best man was bummed he couldn’t be here to do it. I really do appreciate it.”

“Where is your best man?”

“Oh, he plays ball for the Dodgers,” he said. “He couldn’t get out of the games to come up for the party. He was going to throw one when he got here, but Lindsey was adamant about not being hungover at the wedding.”

“Understandable.” I laughed.

“It was a blast, though,” he said. “I haven’t had that much fun ever in my life.”

“I’m so glad you had fun,” I said, laughing. “It really wasn’t that big of a deal. I wanted to make sure that you had one last outing. The strippers were thrown in at the last minute when John instructed me to do so. I was going to make it a boys’ night out kind of thing.”

“I have never been around strippers.” He laughed. “They were definitely interesting. It was a good thing that you had so much liquor there for us. I definitely needed to loosen up to get used to it.”

“Strippers always make people feel that way.” I laughed. “They were a bit over the top for my taste, but that strap-on, forehead dildo was definitely interesting. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to burn that image out of my brain.”

“Yeah,” he said, wincing. “That was probably the most terrifying part before you left. After you were gone, it got a little too weird for me. I was glad when they passed out.”

“Is that when the dance competition started?” I asked.

“Shit,” he said, rubbing his face. “Yes.”

“We can always throw another party if you had that much fun.” I laughed.

“No, no,” Jordan said, laughing. “I think I am good for the rest of my life. If John gets married ever, I’m sitting his bachelor party out.”