Page 82 of Hard To Stay

Chapter Thirty-Three

Brad

The bar was packedand I could barely hear the Sports Center highlights coming from the TV over the bar. My eyes looked to Sawyer sitting on the stool next to me as the room started to spin, making it hard to concentrate on what he was saying. Thanks to the farewell party the guys threw for me I’d been drinking since noon. The empty wing basket and a few other appetizer trays littered the bar top. I could feel myself running out of gas.

“Be right back.” Sawyer announced, as I heard his chair scrape against the wood floor.

“I have to call Faith. Save my seat.”

I nodded my head and lifted the neck of my beer to my lips, too engrossed in the television to even form a response. I heard Lucas tease him as he made his way across the room.

“You’re not even married yet, and she has you by the balls. Maybe she’ll keep them in a jar so you can borrow them every once in a while when you want to go out with the boys.”

“At least I’ll be getting it on a regular basis and won’t have to go looking for a random chick to bang every night like your ugly ass.”

Lucas’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Dude, your pecker is so small, she’ll probably need a search party and a magnifying glass just to find it.”

Sawyer flipped him the bird as he walked away. It appeared my friends hadn’t matured much since middle school, which was one of the reasons I was going to miss their adolescent banter.

My mind was still buzzing with everything this change would mean for me. I was uprooting my life and switching careers in a span of a week. I knew in my head that I would eventually adapt and move on, but that didn’t make the thought of leaving any easier. Thankfully, my family backed my decision 100%. Their support was comforting, especially since I was relocating to a city that I had visited only twice in my life.

My thoughts turned to Jack who had been quiet all afternoon. Normally, he was right in the middle of things, but he had seemed a bit somber and moody all day. I knew him well enough to know that he had something or someone on his mind.

“You want to tell me why you’ve barely said more than two words today? Are you really that depressed about my moving to D.C?” I smirked, draining the remainder of my beer.

“Dude, I’ll miss you like a five-day hemorrhoid.” He teased. “I guess I’m just missing my girl. The long-distance shit really sucks.”

I blinked twice to make sure I heard him correctly. “No fucking way. You really are serious about this chick.” I looked around and sniffed the air. “Did hell freeze over?”

His lips kicked up into a smirk. “Like you’re one to talk.”

Well that shut me up. I’d been trying to put my thoughts about Lexi away and tried to make this day be about celebrating and enjoying my time with the boys. We’d talked about everything from work, sports, chicks and who could bench press more at the gym. We were laughing so hard I was sure we looked like a bunch of drunken idiots. The entire day had been one big fucking farewell. But as great as this night had been, my mind had been elsewhere. The more I tried to drink Lexi out of my system, the more she invaded my thoughts, as I tried to come up with a good enough reason as to why she’d left me. No matter what road my mind took me down, I always ended up in a dead end. It didn’t matter where I was or what I was doing, she always seemed to find a way back into my head. In fact, she seemed to be the only thing I had thought about lately.

I kept glancing at my phone all day hoping to see a text or a missed call from Mac. I hadn’t heard from him since he agreed to do a little digging on my behalf. He told me he would call me when he had news. My patience was running low and my move was quickly approaching. I wasn’t going to be able to go forward until I was 100% certain she was okay. I sent him one last text message. If I didn’t hear back from him by the end of the night, I was booking a flight to Atlanta first thing in the morning.

Jack noticed my mood slip. “So, what happened between you and the blonde? It must have been serious enough to uproot your life and switch careers, not to mention give up a sweet state pension.” He asked, picking up a nacho chip and dipping it in the salsa. He popped the chip in his mouth as a smug smile spread across his face. If it got any wider, I was afraid it would split in half. It also didn’t go unnoticed that he intentionally flipped the attention away from him, the bastard!

“Brother, I wish I knew.” I said, and that was the truth. I’d played things over in my head a hundred times and I could never get to the point where Lexi’s leaving made any sense. So much for enjoying the party—my attention had completely left the bar. I started to think about everything that needed to be done and decided it was time to leave. I knew I would catch a shitload of grief from Sawyer and Lucas, but my buzz was gone and I really wasn’t in the partying mood.

When Lucas came back from the bathroom, I asked all the guys to belly up at the bar. I winked at the beautiful bartender that had been serving us all afternoon and asked her to pour another round of Patron. Within minutes there was a line of shot glasses in front of us, brimming with clear liquid. I grabbed my glass and encouraged everyone to do the same.

“Guys, thanks for putting this party together. This isn’t goodbye, but just so long for now. So, to all my friends, I make this toast.

We drink to those who love us,

We drink to those that don’t.

We drink to those who fuck us,

And fuck those who don’t!

Everyone roared with a “here here”and we tossed the shots back. I watched as their faces soured at the taste of the tequila, but everyone managed to finish it.

“Fuck! This shit tastes like gasoline.” Lucas muttered.

Almost immediately, Sawyer piped up and said, “I’m buying the next round, but this time we’ll do something that doesn’t taste like shit.”

After doing a couple shots of Jack Fire, I stood from the stool to steady my feet. The room started to spin making it hard for me to focus. I didn’t want to leave, but I needed to start packing. My mom and sister were taking me to breakfast tomorrow morning and if I didn’t stop I was going to have a massive hangover. Something I could not afford. My move date was only two days away, and I hadn’t started putting anything I owned into boxes yet.

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