Page 103 of Falling into Place
All the events of the day had crashed down on him, and that last realization had been too much. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
He’d come home, gotten drunk, and stayed that way. One look at his phone showed she’d called and texted a few times, probably checking on him.
He hadn’t even noticed, and obviously hadn’t responded.
Sinking to his haunches, he ran his hands through his hair. He’d snuck out of her apartment like a coward and basically ghosted her.
She had to be furious. He would be.
As he considered how he might be able to fix this, a tiny voice asked if he should even try.
Carly deserved more than a man who could hang around when things were good but randomly disappeared when his emotions got too big to handle.
He obviously had issues. He’d known it from the start and should have known better than to let himself fall into a false sense of security with Carly. He’d just ignored all the reasons he’d avoided relationships in the past, and at the first sign of discomfort, slipped back into his comfort zone.
Clearly, a few weeks of bliss didn’t translate to long-term-relationship capability.
At the sound of his doorbell, his heart stopped. Was it her?
He shot back up to a standing position way faster than advisable in his current condition. He had to pause so he wouldn’t vomit, and the doorbell rang again before he slowly shuffled his way through the house and answered the door.
Sasha reared back and put a hand over her nose. “My God.”
“You act like you’ve never smelled whiskey before,” he said flatly. It was probably coming out of his pores at this point.
“I hope you’re not supposed to be at work right now.”
He wasn’t, thank God.
Macy glared at her sister and stepped forward to envelop Brooks in a hug.
“Don’t jostle me,” he warned.
She ignored him. “We heard about Coach.”
“News travels fast.”
Macy pulled back but left her hands on his shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
She nodded as if she’d figured as much.
He moved to the side to let them in. He eyed Sasha carefully, because other than his email to her with his final piece for the magazine, they hadn’t spoken since the day she discovered Carly at his house. But when he sat down on the couch, she sat beside him and leaned into him.
“What can we do?” she asked.
“Nothing. There’s nothing anyone can do.”
“When did it happen?” Macy asked.
“Yesterday morning. Early. Linda’s a mess.”
“I bet,” Macy said. “It was a shock.”
He nodded.
“Why didn’t you call us?” Sasha asked. “Did you just come straight home and start drinking?”
