Page 82 of Play the Part

I leave her standing near the bar and head for the exit, suddenly feeling sick, dread crawling up my throat like bile. I don’t know what’s about to happen next, but years of shitty luck prepares me for the worst.

Because nothing good ever lasts.

I watchConnie’s scrawled handwriting fade and burn with the cigarette until it’s nothing but ashes. I’m not exactlygratefulright now, even if it’s something as simple as my vinyl records. I’m stewing, picking my thumb raw with nerves, knowing that I eventually need to go back inside.

I’d rather just walk away now. Pretend these past couple of weeks never happened and fade back into the void.

Instead, I flick my cigarette butt into the street and jog up the church stairs.

Inside, I’m met with the worst-case scenario.

Her ex has replaced me at the bar beside Connie. Both their heads are down as if deep in discussion. Everyone is giving them a wide berth, and something about it pisses me the fuckoff. I feel like a fool stepping up to them likeI’mthe one interrupting and not the other way around.

“Huxley!” Connie squeaks, her expression just as alarmed as before, her eyes bouncing from me to him.

She seems incapable of properly handling whatever is happening right now.

So I make it easier for her.

“I’m going to head out.”

“Wait, no,” she hurries to say, taking a step forward.

I don’t miss her ex’s hand landing on her arm as if he has every right to touch her. My fist curls instinctively at the sight.

His pompous gaze flicks to me, but he barely gives me the time of day. He assesses me quickly, then simply says, “Let him go, babe.”

His term of endearment hangs between the three of us like a ghost risen back from the dead. If I weren’t just fresh off of probation, I’d be punching this idiot square in the jaw.

Like I give a flying fuck who this guy is or how much he’s worth.

My laugh is chilling when I look over to Connie.

“Yeah,babe,” I repeat slowly. “Just let me go.”

I don’t leave Connie the chance to reply before I head straight back for the exit. But this time, I hear Connie’s protest rise up from the crowd.

“Huxley, stop!” She’s following me out.

I’m halfway down the church steps when I finally turn around.

I’m struck by the vision of Connie in her white dress, the church looming behind her with the moon hanging low in the starry night sky.

But at that very moment, I hate everything about how breathtaking she looks. A cruel taunt of the unattainable dream of being with her.

“Go back inside, Connie,” I spit. “It’s where you belong.”

“What am I supposed to do?” she says, a small plea in her voice. “Ignore him?”

I stare back at her, slightly dumbfounded.

“After what he did to you? Yeah, actually, that’d be a great start.”

She wraps her arms around her body against the cold, and I’m reminded of our spat outside the bar on her birthday. The memory stings. Although it didn’t feel like it back then, everything was a lot less tangled between us.

“It’s not that simple, okay?” Her voice rises as if she’s getting riled up. “It’s complicated — we were together for a year. Ilovedhim. You just wouldn’t understand.”

Her frustrated expression falls as she realizes what she just said. I don’t even let her words sink far enough to do any real damage. I lock myself out and feel nothing.

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