Avery rushed over to Olivia, and Olivia curled into her, sobbing.
“It hurts so much,” she cried brokenly.
A sharp pain stabbed through my chest at her words. I couldn’t do this to her again. I had to stay away, before I hurt her even more.
“I know, doll. I’ve got you,” Avery soothed, stroking her hair and glaring daggers at me.
Alex tumbled out of the door, his sharp, intelligent gaze immediately assessing the situation.
“Luke, you’re coming with me, right now,” he commanded. “Aves, you okay with Liv?”
She nodded once and mouthed “thank you” to him.
“Come on.” He grabbed my arm.
With one last, tortured look back at Olivia, I allowed Alex to drag me away.
“Mate, we’re leaving.” Alex tapped furiously on his phone. “Let’s go.”
In a daze I followed him out of the bar, cradling my grazed hand, throbbing from where I’d slammed it into the wall. Alex flagged down a taxi. Rattling off an address to the driver, he settled back in the seat and turned to me.
“I’m going to give you a break and not speak about what happened tonight, mate, but when we go to Ethan’s, whenever that may be, we’re gonna sort this out, alright?”
Ethan’s?
“You messaged Ethan about this?”
“Yes. You fucked up. Ethan’s the only one who might be able to talk some sense into you.”
He’d staged an intervention. Great.
“Really?” I groaned.
“Yep. I am not equipped to deal with this shit. You get to have a break to think about how badly you fucked up—Ethan’s giving you some time to get your head together, but then we’re all having a talk. And for the record, Ethan’s forcing both of us into this.” He huffed, displeased. “Anyway, you’re crashing at mine tonight. I’m not leaving you on your own—I don’t want you doing anything stupid.”
“Whatever,” I muttered, defeated. I just wanted this whole evening to be over with. I needed to forget. Forget everything about tonight. How Liv had felt coming apart for me, how her lips had tasted, how her body had fitted against mine like we were made for each other.
I glanced over at Alex, sitting with his arms crossed and an angry scowl on his face.
I’d manage to upset everyone with my actions.
I was suddenly filled with self-loathing, nausea making my stomach churn.
Was I turning into my parents?
How had I managed to mess things up so badly?
Leaning my head against the cab window with a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes.
29
Olivia
Curling up in the teal wingback chair in the flat that Eddie and his partner, George, lived in, I scrolled through my phone, checking my messages. Out of habit, I put Luke’s name into the search bar, then remembered I’d blocked him on all my social media accounts, and blocked his number. My phone background was no longer his sexy, smiling face; in its place was a photo of a generic cityscape. The pain of losing him cut me even deeper than before—that night in the bar where he’d broken me all over again had only amplified my heartbreak.
“Here you go.” George stood in front of me, a glass of orange juice in his hand. Smiling, thankful for the interruption, I took the glass, careful not to disturb Tink, Eddie’s tabby cat, who was curled up in my lap.
“Thanks, George.” I’d never been more grateful for the support system of my friends. Avery had taken me straight to her and Ethan’s apartment after the bar and had stayed with me all night, listening patiently while I raged, then holding me while I cried myself to sleep. In the morning, Ethan, having been brought up to speed on the situation by Avery, had suggested that I take a week’s leave from work, effective immediately. I had plenty of leave accumulated, but since I had outstanding work, we compromised on me working remotely for part of the week, and taking the rest as leave.