The Heartbreaker

“First of all, Dad won’t care.” Misty lights the joint and I inhale deeply and cough loudly as I exhale. “He literally was the one who got this for me from his doctor friend in Florida. Besides, who will take a picture of you? You’re not that important.”

I stick my tongue out at her. She doesn’t mean it in a bad way. In all honesty, I’m not important in a let’s take a candid picture of her sort of way. When I was dating Lawrence, I was. My heart squeezes. I cannot, will not, think about Lawrence right now. I can’t have him ruining a night he’s not even a part of. It’s just hard since all the previous college parties I went to were with him and his friends and some of my volleyball teammates and now it’s just me. And my sister.

“I think I’ll stick to tequila.” I hand over the little joint to her and grab my water bottle.

“Wow. Tequila.” My sister laughs. “Your liver will hate you, but I guess that’s a choice you have to make, right? Liver or lungs.”

“That shouldn’t even be a choice.” I cap my water bottle and tuck it into my purse again.

“Well, we could do edibles.”

“Last time you talked me into doing an edible I thought I was going to die, so I think I’ll take my chances with my liver for now.” I smile.

“In that case, I’ll go get some shots,” she says.

“Do these guys even have alcohol? This is a pretty tame frat party.”

“It’s a medical fraternity. They’re into drugs, not alcohol,” Misty says. “They’re all probably doing drugs inside right now. You know, testing the limits of the brain and all that.”

My eyes widen. I’m not a judgmental person, but that’s a little off-putting.

She drops the joint into the small tube it came in and puts it in her bag and applies hand sanitizer before squirting some into my hands. “So, how’s living with Jagger?”

“So far it’s fine. It seems like we have opposite schedules. I haven’t even seen him again.” I walk beside Misty toward the house, taking in the guys stumbling out of it.

Maybe she’s onto something and they really are all on drugs.

I purse my lips, looking around the lawn as she pulls the door open. It really is a tame party, despite the stumbling guys. I’m used to seeing shirtless people running around the beer kegs.

“Has Lawrence reached out?”

“No.” I swallow, my heart squeezing. “There’s nothing to say. He’s probably fucking Crystal.”

“Jo.” She reaches for my hand and squeezes. “I’m sorry you’re going through it.”

“Well, you went through it last year, so you get it.” I shake my head. “Seriously, what is wrong with men?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t catch Michael in the act and he took responsibility and said it hadn’t gone past flirting, so technically, he didn’t cheat.”

“Technically he was emotionally cheating. Some say it’s worse.”

“Is it?” She glanced up at me as she poured our shot glasses.

“No. I don’t know. It’s all hurtful.”

“Exactly.” She hands one over to me and clinks hers against mine. “To purging our lives of men.”

“Here, here.” I lift my glass and take a shot, my mind swimming instantly. When I open my eyes, I smile at her. “Let’s do another.”

After my third attempt to put the key in the lock, Misty takes them away from me and does it for me, ushering me inside.

“Careful with the step,” I mumble.

“You’re slurring,” she says.

“So are you.” I laugh. “Maybe weed isn’t bad after all.”

“I don’t think the weed hit you. You’re drunk.” She pulls me toward the hall. “What room is it again?”

“That one.” I point straight ahead.

“That’s the bathroom.”

Both rooms are shut, so I step forward and go left first. Might as well try both of them, right?

Misty grips my arm tighter, making me straighten. I pause and take a breath so I don’t stumble. I took a pretty big fall on my way to the house. A funny fall. I mean, my knee hurts, but I laughed for an hour outside on the floor, so it obviously doesn’t hurt that bad. Misty pushes the door open and gasps loudly, letting go of my arm and jerking away to rush down the hall.

“What are you doing?” I shout, then look inside the bedroom, where Jagger is lying naked with a naked woman on top of him.

I’m shocked into silence, staring at his muscular arms and large hands squeezing her waist. My entire body heats instantly and when her attention whips over to us, I feel sick.

“What the—” she says.

“What the fuck, Jo?” Jagger roars, raising his confused but livid gaze to us.

“Shit. Sorry.” I shut the door quickly and stumble back. “I’m so sorry!”

I turn and run over to the living room, where Misty is picking up her purse.