Page 13 of Aftersome
“What? I just said what everyone here is thinking.”
The hand I had on the glass was tightening and soon, we had a small audience watching us.
“He’s just fuckin’ with you. No one is thinking that,” James tried to reassure me, but I wasn’t an idiot. I could read the room loud and clear.
No one wanted me here.
So much so that the energy had greatly shifted since I made my arrival.
Then taking a much-needed swig of my beer, I drank it down till it was nearly gone. Vince watched me closely.
“What are you doing here anyway? Don’t have anything better to do?”
Our stares clashed head-on.
“Same reason as everyone else. And I have plenty of other better fuckin’ things I could be doing, I just decided not to do them.” I lifted my chin, refusing to back down from him.
Three years of being here and Vince still acted like I was the fucking dirt on his shoe. A headache, and not worth a second of his time. We clashed together more than anyone else on the team and everyone knew it.
“Everyone else is here because they wanted to be here. They actually give a fuck about the team.”
My nostrils flared at his comment.
I did give a fuck. I gave a fuck about winning, wasn’t that enough?
“Vince, let’s just take it easy tonight, all right? He’s here. That’s gotta mean something, right?” James announced.
He was the only one who ever had my back.
Even when I didn’t need it, he always seemed to be there.
On the tip of my tongue were words that I had been holding back ever since I sat down, but causing a scene was the last thing I wanted to do.
Vince eventually left me alone and focused his attention on some brunette who bravely sat down in his lap. Most of the team was single, but there were a few that were either married or in a relationship.
While everyone seemed to be engrossed in their own conversations, here I was nursing a beer while I people-watched.
Why the fuck was I even here?
No one wanted anything to do with me. No one bothered to talk to me or even ask how I was. I felt like the biggest fucking loser there was, so on a fed-up sigh, I rose to my feet and made my way to the exit.
It wasn’t like anyone noticed that I was leaving.
“Hey! Mal, where you goin’?”
Of course James would be the one to find me leaving, it couldn’t have been anyone else…
Stopping just beside the door, I spun around to face him.
“Going home,” I grunted as his face had fallen in confusion.
“What? Why? You just got here.”
The last thing I wanted to do was explain myself. All I wanted was to be at home. Away from everyone. Where I could finally breathe.
“Why the fuck would I stay when no one wants me here?” I laughed. “You heard Vince, so I’m just doing everyone a favor and leaving.”
His shoulders dropped and sympathy filled his gaze.
