Page 82 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

Holy fucking shit. Her pregnancy scare. Could that have been…? No. Didn’t know. Didn’t care. Neither of them was my concern anymore.

“Screw you both. You deserve each other.”

I was back in my car, taking off as fast as I could. I was on autopilot the entire way back home. Well, itusedto be home. Fuck. Them. Both.

I darted inside and threw together as much stuff as possible, as quickly as possible. There was no way I wanted to run into either of them. Ever again. I wished for them both to come down with an epic case of…. Hmm, which one involved crater-sized pus-oozing scabs? I wasn’t up on all my venereal diseases, but that was the one I was hoping for.

Although I was in a hurry, I ran into Christa’s room and pulled that nasty bottle of piss from her dresser. Then I opened her bra and underwear drawer, about to saturate every damn piece she had, but I stopped myself at the last second. Fuck. I tossed it to the floor. She wasn’t worthy of my restraint, but I was trying to be a different person. I didn’t hold back on her account but mine.

I grabbed the couple large bags I’d filled and hightailed it back to the car, then drove several blocks away to be out of the vicinity before pulling over. I had no idea what I was going to do; I just couldn’t live with my backstabbing ex-best friend anymore. I stroked my hands over the wheel as if that would help me figure this shitout. My parents were out of state, my sister… yeah, no. Not with her dickhead husband on the premises. The only one else around I’d feel comfortable enough asking was Stu.

Okay, that was the plan. If I had to, I could always check into a hotel for the night, but that wasn’t a feasible long-term option. It was barely even a short-term one. I didn’t have gobs of money to burn. God, I was going to explode. How could they screw me over like that? How couldshe? It was her knife that had plunged the deepest and would leave the cruelest scar.

Wengo’s. That’s where I’d stop first. Stephen had already invited me, and there was a good chance he’d still be there. I had a strong urge to see him. I wasn’t looking for a guy to fuck to help me forget Dre for a night. I was looking for a friend to make me laugh for a while, or to piss me off in all the best ways. I had Stu, but at the moment, I needed the unique friendship that only Stephen brought. Whatever the hell that meant.

My head was still mucked up when I got to the bar. By that point, my phone had been going off consistently with either texts or calls. I checked to make sure they were from no one important—only Christa and Dre, so nope—then powered it off for the night. After that, I scanned the lot for his truck, relieved when I found it. I felt better already.

I went inside and declined the offer to be shown to a table. I weaved through the crowds instead, looking for the face I recognized. It was packed—ten-cent wings and two-for-one drinks will do that. I caught sight of Stephen towards the back. It felt good to have my lips curve the right way after the shitstorm I’d just trudged through.

I moved closer, about to get his attention when I stopped dead. A blonde—a beautiful one, fuck her—draped her arms around his neck, whispered something into his ear, and kissed him.Kissed him. My mouth hung open. He left then, going in the opposite direction towards the restrooms. He never saw me.

The woman took that moment to look around, and before I could leave, she’d made eye contact. Her head tilted in a manner that indicated she recognized me, but she was no one I had ever seen before nor ever wanted to see again. She took a few steps over with a smile that made her look even more attractive. I hated her.

My body was quicker than my brain. I met her steps forward, and the next thing I knew, I was taking the drink from her hand and flinging it at her. I didn’t stick around for the aftermath. I was sure I’d left a soaked, seething slut who was probably too blown away by a stranger’s actions to do much of anything for a minute or two.

It wasn’t until I was in my car driving away that I realized what I’d done. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was a fucking mess. I was a ticking time bomb that had used up all its willpower when I’d held back from stinking up Christa’s drawer. She had been the one to deserve it, but instead, I’d lost it on some poor girl who’d done nothing to me. And for what? Because she was affectionate with myfriend? Stephen would probably never speak to me again after that, outside of work crap. Unless he had a thing for psychos.

I just needed to get this night behind me. My next and hopefully last stop was Stu’s. I pulled up in front of his place and hopped out, leaving my bags in the car. I had it all mapped out: I’d make a big bowl of popcorn, clear his cabinets of cookies, and pull all the ice cream from the freezer. Then I’d mix it all together, curl up on the couch, and watch some blood-and-guts action movie. The gorier the better.

As I was crossing over the sidewalk, I nearly collided with someone. “Sorry,” I said. I really needed to pay attention. “I wasn’t looking where—Kenny?”

“Hello, Perry. I thought that was you.”

“Do you and Stu have plans tonight?” I eyed the bottle of wine he had in one hand and the bakery box in the other. Good thing I hadn’t hit him harder or it all would’ve been splattered on the ground.

“Oh no, did you two? You’re here, so you must’ve. I don’t want tointerrupt anything.”

“Nah, nothing important.” I smiled. “Is this a surprise?”

I swore his face lit up. He was adorable in a preppy kind of way. He glanced towards the house and then back at me, talking quietly. “I know Stu confides in you, so pretend I didn’t tell you, okay? I’m just so excited.” He leaned in closer to my ear. “I’m ready to take that leap. Why keep torturing myself? I know he loves me, and I’m going to tell him tonight that I accept his offer to move in.”

“Ohmigod! That’s wonderful, Kenny!” I said a bit too loudly.

“Shhh.” He looked at the house again.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I’d say good luck, but I know you won’t need it.” My heart felt all gushy. At least not everyone sucked at relationships. “You’re going to make him so happy tonight.”

He grinned. “Thanks, Perry.”

I patted him on the back. “Now go. I’ll catch up with him later. I’m sure I’ll be hearing all about it soon.”

I trudged to my car, ecstatic for them, ready to smack my head against the window for me. This was what Stu was waiting for, hoping for; I was not going to destroy that for him by asking to crash their party of two.

But damn it all. Now what? Argh. I wanted to run through the streets screaming until I passed out. And if that happened to be on a park bench or under a viaduct, so be it.

I got back in the car and seriously considered spending the night in the back seat when I made myself swallow down the distaste already. I needed a place, and it wouldn’t frickin’ kill me to go there.

Twenty-two minutes later, I was standing on the porch, throwing up in my mouth.

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