Crying, she began to push me toward the door, but I refused to move. I just couldn’t accept that it was over. I refused to acknowledge it.
She stood tall and stepped back from me. “Get out,” she whispered, continuing backward.
I watched as she inched her way to the stairwell and disappeared up the stairs. I was unmovable in the moment, my heart shattered at my feet and the one person capable of assembling the shards back into a working organ once more wanted nothing to do with me. And I deserved it.
I shuffled my leaden feet across the shop floor, closed the door behind me...
And pulled my hood over my head.
Chapter Twelve
This Too Shall Pass
New York City
Kelly’s Wedding
Thomas
I walked into that wedding without a moment to spare. I say walked. I dragged my ass is more like it. Dragged because my body may as well have weighed as much as the Brooklyn Bridge for all the motivation I had to get out of bed.
Because January left me. She fucking left me and it was all my fault. For the first time in my entire life, I knew what it truly meant to be in love with someone, to know exactly who you’re meant to be with, and never having a chance in hell of reconciling what you never intended to fuck up.
I found my family and squeezed in next to Harper while the organ played.
“Oh, Jesus! You scared me!” Harper said, grasping her chest. She hugged me fiercely and kissed my cheek. A small tear escaped her eye. “It’s so good to see you, friend.”
“You have no idea,” I said, hugging her back.
I stood and hugged all my friends, lingering a bit at Cherry.
“My lovely Cherry, how are you?”
“I have never been happier to see you in all my life,” she admitted, “but you look like shit.” She peered around me. “Where’s your girl, baby?” The expression on my face must have revealed it all and her smile fell. I shook my head. “Oh, Tommy. It’ll be okay. Let me help you fix this.”
“It can’t be fixed,” I whispered as Callum slapped my shoulder in greeting.
“My God, Tom. I’ve found it very difficult to handle these women without you. We’ve taken a vote. You can’t leave again.”
This made me smile but it was unpracticed and he could tell something was wrong.
“You’ve been dumped,” he said.
Harper approached our little pow-wow and grabbed her husband’s hand, making my chest constrict at the idea that January and I could have been just like them. Perfect.
“You have?” Harper yells, before bringing her voice back down. “What the devil, Tom? Seriously?”
“Yeah, I have.”
Cherry wound her arm through mine and brought me close to her side. “We’re going to fix it, Tom.”
She said it so confidently, I almost believed her.
“Yes,” Harper agreed just as strongly. “It must be a mistake. Thomas Eriksson doesn’t get dumped. Girls should clamor in line to be with you.”
I smiled at her but couldn’t answer. Truth be told, I’d buried myself the second I didn’t trust January the way she deserved to be. I let my old cynical self take over and although I promised her I’d be good to her, I’d failed her.
Callum looked on his wife and kissed her temple. You could tell he was proud of her, of her loyalty. She was amazing. All the girls were. I’d need them to help me survive.