“Because you’re drinking alone and wallowing in misery!” Vick practically screeched as she swiped her hands through the air.
“You’re being dramatic,” I deadpanned.
“You’re being destructive again,” she mimicked.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Rome.
He studied me while I studied him. Black tattoos snaked around his arms and wrapped him up into one delicious, mysterious package.
Katie had egged me on when we first met him while he was bartending, saying he looked like sex on a stick. And she was right. I knew when a lethally gorgeous man stood in front of me. Rome, he was beyond lethal. His body was cut and he towered over almost everyone. His dark hair and eyes both looked unruly and untamed.
Yet, none of that pulled me to him. I didn’t care about how hot any guy was really. For years, no one sparked anything in me like Jax had.
Rome though, hooked me with his dark eyes, so black I couldn’t make out where the pupil ended and iris began. Most of the time, those eyes were just as empty as they were obsidian. They pulled me into their abyss, as if I could fill them up for just a night. I could make him whole because I knew how empty he felt, being just as broken as him.
“You going to give me back the alcohol?” I finally asked.
“You gonna drown yourself in Jax being with another woman after all these years?” Leave it to Rome to twist the knife in quickly, even if it was as blunt as ever.
“I don’t care that he’s moved on.”
Rome crossed his arms and waited.
I just glared back at him.
And because Vick could never take a second of silence, she burst out, “Oh my God. Who cares, Brey? We know you’re mad because he’s finally settling down with that Isabel chick. I would be too. He’s ridiculous and he’ll come to his senses!” She waved her arms around as if the news of him being ridiculous was obvious. “We know it, you know it, even his brother knows it.”
I sighed. “Can we not talk about this?”
“Well, we wouldn’t be if you weren’t watching his concert,” Vick retorted.
They’d know tomorrow anyway. Telling them now would just prepare them for when my alcohol-induced haze wore off the next morning and I had to face my nightmare. “Jax is coming to Jay’s graduation tomorrow,” I whispered.
Saying it out loud, even when it was barely loud enough for anyone to hear, sped my heart up. My nightmare was becoming a reality, because somehow, I’d always made sure it was just a nightmare, seeing him again.
Which was stupid. Jay was my best friend and his brother had to be in his life sometimes. Unfortunately.
Somehow though, we’d avoided crossing paths and if we did, we didn’t speak.
Jay’s graduation would be different. His graduation would make gossip magazines. Jax’s presence, along with the Stonewood parents being there, would solidify that. With people watching, our interactions not isolated to a private place and the family’s celebrity status, I would be on display. Conversation between Jax and me would be necessary because of how close I was to the rest of his family.
I was doomed.
Rome and Vick exchanged looks. A worried silence saturated the air around us. I wanted to scream loud enough to make it all go away.
Rome plopped down onto our gray couch right beside me. “You sure?”
I nodded. “Jay stopped by today to tell me.”
“And then he left?” Rome erupted.
“Well, I’m just fine!” I said as I threw up my hands, because it was exactly what I had to convince Jay of before he left.
Vick rolled her eyes. “Sure. You look just fine to me.”
Rome stared at her and then cut his eyes to me, as if deciding something. “Fuck it. I’m joining you in your wallowing.”
He took a long pull from the bottle, wiped the back of his arm across his mouth and then handed the bottle back to me. “Damn, that’s some shit.”