Staying on Course (Finding our Way 2)

“This is not my phone.” He reaches out and shakes a phone over the table.

“It’s possible they could have gotten mixed up this morning in the rush to get you to work. Remember, we weren’t exactly wearing a lot of clothes.” She giggles and someone hisses.

“Where’s my damn phone? You’d know it’s mine because it has a picture of Devon on the screen.” He bangs something on the table.

At this statement, I lose all control, wailing into the empty room.

“Okay, big boy, don’t have a conniption. I haven’t even looked at my phone today. Let me get it.” She reaches around, and I watch his hand grab the phone off the table.”

His face fills the screen and twists hard. His eyes slice to the side, and his voice fills with fear and fury at the same time.

“Why in the motherfucking hell is the Facetime on Devon’s number for the last nine minutes?”

“Oh my God, no!” Nicole screeches, and Dani yelps.

“Bryce, what are you talking about?” Liza sidles up to his side, staring straight into the screen.

“What have you done?” he asks her but holds the phone to his face. “Devon, baby, are you there? Please answer. No matter what you heard, I can explain.”

“What the hell is that smell?” Nate’s voice startles me. He stops in the doorway and looks around. His eyes find mine and instantly cloud in fury.

I reach over and hit the end button and then look back to my brother.

“What the fucking hell is going on,” he yells, coming in.

“B-b-b-ryce cheated on me with Liza last night.”

“What? Who told you that?”

“Nicole confirmed she walked into her living room with both of them naked and saw Liza on her knees. And there’s pictures of them in bed together.” I shake my phone in the air.

The anger on his face turns furious, but what it doesn’t do is look surprised. He fists his hands and turns to the door. I notice for the first time a gorgeous brunette standing there. When she looks at me, there’s pity and sympathy.

“Oh my God,” I jump up, realizing I have vomit on my clothes and in my hair. “Oh, God, I’m so embarrassed,” I sob then scream in frustration. In my rambling, I tell them about the call and all the things Liza’s ever said to me. The temptation on deployments, the on-ship trysts, comments about being a Navy wife… all of it.

“Where is he?” Nate fumes when I stop to catch my breath.

“At some bar with Dani, Nicole, Liza, and Tommy. Liza had his phone.”

He starts shaking but takes a deep breath and looks at me with pure brotherly love. “I’m going to find him. Remember, he doesn’t know you’re here. If you want, I’ll keep him away and get you a hotel room.”

“No, she can stay with me. No one can find her there. I’ll take care of her.” Jamie’s sweet voice breaks me apart even more.

She walks over and takes my hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”

I nod. Before Nate walks out, he kisses both of us on the forehead and whispers, “I’ll take care of this.”

Jamie leads me to the bathroom and helps me out of my ruined clothes and into a hot shower. If I wasn’t numb, I’d be mortified. Blindly, I go through the motions of washing, drying, and changing into my sweats. She starts to lay me on Bryce’s bed, but I whimper, and she seems to understand. Gently, she guides me to my brother’s room and pulls back his covers.

I lay down, tears streaming down my face. She disappears and comes back with two shots of something dark, a glass of water, and an aspirin.

“Here you go.” She hands me a shot glass and raises her own.

The whiskey burns but helps the buzzing in my head. My stomach lurches in protest until she hands me the water to chase it down.

“I can’t believe this is the way I meet my brother’s girlfriend.”

Her cheeks turn pink as she gives me another sweet smile.