Page 19 of Use Me
I looked at him. “Well, thank you.”
He smiled. “And, I love you.”
How was I so stupid? Everything had seemed perfect that night. Granted, Corey never uttered those three words again, and I should have taken that as a sign, but I never expected him to be such a good actor.
Saturday morning as I read the morning newspaper, my phone buzzed next to me.
Jamie: Girl’s night tonight?
Usually, I’d spend my Saturday evenings with Corey like we had the night we went to see the fireworks, but now I was free in a sense, and I needed my friends to keep my mind off my breakup.
Me: Judy’s?
Jamie: I’ll meet you at your place at nine.
At nine o’clock sharp, there was a knock on my door. When I opened it, Jaime and our friends Kylie and Colleen were standing there with huge smiles on their faces.The more the merrier.Now I could answer their burning questions and be done with it.
When the four of us got together, we looked like we’d stepped out of an episode ofSex and the City. Kylie had her dark brown hair up in a high ponytail, her bangs perfect across her forehead. Her brown eyes sparkled as she held up a bottle of Patrón. Colleen’s red hair was cut into a pixie cut, and her petite frame was opposite of her big green eyes, but they worked for her face. And Jaime had her blonde hair loosely curled.
“We brought tequila!” Jaime squealed, and Kylie thrust the bottle toward me. It was then I noticed Colleen had a bag of limes, chips, and salsa.
“We’re having girl’s night here?” I thought we were going to the bar.
All three of them moved around me and into my condo. “It’s the pre-party,” Kylie confirmed.
“This way we only need to have one or two drinks at Judy’s.”
“Or for you three to stall and quiz me about Corey,” I commented, following them to the open kitchen.
Jaime grinned. “We also want to know about Rhys.” Even though I’d told her all there was to know already about Rhys, a week had passed and apparently, she thought we were more of a thing. We weren’t. I hadn’t heard from him since.
“Rhys?” I questioned, sliding onto a barstool while they got to work with the shots and snacks.
“We haven’t heard from you since your breakup,” Kylie stated.
That was true. I hadn’t responded to their texts either. The Sunday after my breakup, I’d stayed home all day. I didn’t want to talk to people, and I was still confused about the whole situation. One minute I was getting my heart broken, and then the next I was kissing a new guy. A guy I hadn’t heard from and was probably using me to get in my pants, but I wasn’t the type to have a booty call on speed dial. Though the thought of it being Rhys did things deep in my belly.
“Basically, I spent almost a year of my life dating a guy for nothing.”
Jaime came over to me with a shot of the tequila. “But how are you really feeling?”
“Alcohol has been my new best friend this week.” Most night after I got home from work, I would drink a glass of wine and then take a hot shower before drinking another glass before bed. It was the only way for me to sleep because every time I tried to do it without any wine, I would crawl into my king-sized bed and reach my hand over into the cold, empty space and then cry before I’d get up in search of wine.
“Well, here’s some more.” Jaime handed me the shot, and I snatched a lime from the counter in front of me where Kylie was cutting slices.
“But really,” Colleen said, opening the tortilla chips, “you’re moving onto Rhys Cole?”
“Just because I took one picture with a fellow anchor doesn’t mean I’m dating the guy.”
Jaime sat next to me with a shot of Patrón in front of her. “It wasn’t because you took a picture. It was because we’d never seen you smile like that before. You were fucking glowing, and you’djustbroken up with Corey.”
“I wasn’t glowing,” I muttered. “It was from all the wine. And maybe the shot of Fireball.”And because he’d kissed my bare shoulder and caused goosebumps to rise on my skin.I left that part out. I also left out the part where we’d kissed—three times. I downed my shot. “Let’s just drop it. I don’t want to talk about boys.”
“That’s the whole point of a girl’s night.” Kylie laughed.
“Well, let’s talk about all of your love lives.”
“We’re all married.” Colleen laughed. “We have boring pre-scheduled sex.”
