“I’m relieved,” I say and back up. “I hope I caused him as much pain as he did to my hand, though,” I say, holding up my hand.
He laughs and walks around me and into the kitchen, and I follow him. He goes into the freezer and pulls out a bag a peas, resting it on my hand. “Hold that there, killer. For what it’s worth, he seemed like a real prick. It’s a good thing you got to him before I did.”
“You saying you could have hurt him worse?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
He pulls the ziti out of the oven before holding up his hands. “No, I’m sure you inflicted a lot of pain.”
We eat and move past the whole thing when I ask him to please just let it go. It’s over, and I feel like a weight has been lifted. I guess this whole time the thing that was holding me back was Henry himself. I should have known, I think I did, I just wanted to try to make it work. For the life of me I can’t figure out why. He’s a real piece of shit.
After dinner we watch TV, and when I start to doze off on the couch, I know I need to get to bed. As I’m almost in my room Tenn calls my name. I turn to look at him and he’s standing with his hands in his pockets. “Goodnight, Tenn,” I say, yawning.
“You know what he said isn’t true. Anyone who is with you is the luckiest son of a bitch in the world,” he says, grinning.
“It will be a long time before that guy is found, but thanks, Tenn. You’re the best,” I say and walk into my room closing the door.
I crash onto my bed, and within minutes I feel sleep pulling me under. Tonight I have a feeling I will have some good dreams about beating the shit out of rich, preppy cock fuckers.
After Henry and I broke up, the next day at work Jennifer gave me a nasty attitude. I told Holly everything that happened and after I got her to stop saying she was going to have an orgasm over it all, she told me to confront Jennifer. Yesterday I did just that. I told her that if she wanted to throw away our friendship because it didn’t work out with her brother that was on her. At the end of the day she came to my classroom and apologized for everything, and we finally made up. I’m not ready to go out drinking with her yet, but I’ll get there.
Since it’s Saturday, Holly and I decided we were going to go out for a few drinks, but I told her I can’t stay out late since tomorrow my parents’ and Tenn’s parents’ are coming over for dinner. I need to make sure I clean so none of them have anything to say. I also need to make sure to hide all my vibrators because I’m not even dealing with that shit.
Tenn went out with the guys, and I’m on my way to get Holly. If I’m driving, she can’t argue about leaving. I pull up to her apartment and send a text telling her I’m here. She comes down smiling and hops in the car.
“Hey, thanks for driving,” she says, buckling her seatbelt.
“Anytime.” I pull out onto the road.
When we get to the bar, we link arms and push through the heavy red door. We go right up to the bar and each order a cranberry and vodka before looking for a table. We find one in the corner, and I’m perfectly happy to just stay here all night.
“Well now that you ditched the douche canoe, you ready to find yourself a guy who won’t make you wait to see stars?” Holly asks, scoping out the place.
I laugh and sip my drink. “Holly, I am taking a dating break. The last few months have been nothing but awful guys. I need to take the hint.”
“How about I set you up with someone?” she asks, clapping her hands.
“No fucking way. I’m done being set-up. The next guy I’m with is one I find. No more set-ups,” I say.
“I get it. I can give you the number of a guy who will be happy to just sext with you,” she laughs.
I laugh along with her. “Girl, you keep that gem all to yourself.”
She sips her drink before nodding her head. “He’s not great at it anyway,” she says, shrugging.
The next few hours fly by, and honestly it’s the most relaxed I’ve been in a long time. I’m not worrying about sleeping with Henry or finding a guy. It’s all about having fun right now, and that is just fine by me. No more blind dates, no more set-ups, no more dating at all. Hanging out with my friends is where it’s at.
Holly is pretty drunk, but I stuck to my two drink limit and have been working on water for a while. Getting her off the dance floor and off the guys is going to be the only problem. I was out there dancing with her, but when she started grinding up on some guy I decided to sit it out. Even though a very good looking guy tried to get me to stay.
“Hey, Regan,” I hear.
I turn my head and see Tenn’s friend Scott. Smiling I stand up and give him a quick hug. “Hey, Scott, what’s going on?”
He tips back his beer and shrugs his shoulders. “Not much. Just out looking for some fun with Tenn and Ryan.”
Looking around, I don’t see either. That’s when I remember he was trying to date that slut Wendy’s friend. Come to think of it, Tenn hasn’t said anything about her or any girl for that matter. He hasn’t brought home a girl in, holy shit I can’t remember the last time. It may have been the girl that made my ears bleed. What the fuck is going on? I’ve been so wrapped up in my shitty life I haven’t been paying attention to his.
“Hey, what ever happened to that girl you wanted to hook up with?” I ask, hoping he will clue me in.
Dipping his brows, he scratches his brown hair. “What girl?”