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“I know,” Nat said with a confident roll of her eyes. “It was because of the sex, I’m telling you. I’m very good.”
I chuckled, “And then you broke up?”
“And then I went through the same hell that you seem to have gone through with your man’s family. I was treated like shit, even investigated before I discovered that my deepest, darkest secrets had been uncovered by his bitch of a mother and used to convince Spencer that I was some gold-digging whore.”
“Holy shit,” I said in shock, looking at her. “I wouldn’t be shocked if John’s mother did the same to me.”
“She probably did,” Nat waved her hand while sipping wine. “All of these mothers who feel they know best for their perfect children are so wildly insane. I swear, if Spencer’s mother had concerned herself more with herself than her damn son’s life, she might still have a relationship with him.”
“Oh, they don’t talk anymore?”
I had to wonder if John would do something like that or if he’d been convinced to stay away from me, and that’s why I hadn’t heard from him.
“Hell no,” Nat answered. “Spence grew a pair of balls and determined it was his life to live, not his mother’s. If she weren’t determined to ruin my character, she might’ve saved her own.”
“Karma is a nasty bitch,” Ashley said with a grin. “Here’s the thing: you and John seem to have had that adorable spark of energy we all had with our men. I saw it, and so did Avery. All I know is what I’ve seen from our situations, and when family meddles in matters of the heart, it doesn’t end well.”
“Well, I’m not even sure what is going on. Last I saw or spoke to John, he was consoling his brother, who seemed miserable that he was set to marry a woman he hated the following day.”
“God, that’s so fucking strange,” Avery said.
“Which part?” I answered with a laugh. “After the nightmare confrontation I had with John’s motherabout how I was basically trash, I concluded that the family saw me as some kind of threat.” I cringed and sipped my coffee, “It strangely feels like John got in trouble or something for daring to bring me to that wedding.”
“Jim mentioned something about how they heavily fund the hospital,” Avery said, reminding me of a conversation I had with John.
“Maybe that’s what’s going on,” I answered her. “I honestly have no idea. I miss him so much that it hurts. I miss him being at work; everyone misses him at work, actually. It’s just hard because there’s no closure.”
“Don’t believe it’s the end,” Ash said. “Seriously. Don’t put that out in the Universe like that. You need to know that he’ll come back to you.”
“I’m just waiting to see if I ever hear from him again,” I answered truthfully. “Today was just a rough day of missing him and what we had and where it all could have gone.”
“You’re not going to go through this alone,” Nat said with a pat on my leg. “We’re here for you, and we’ll help get you through the pain.”
“We’ve all been there,” Avery said. “And we wouldn’t have made it through without each other.”
I smiled at the three women, believing they were angels sent to help me and change my perspective. I’d gone from spending all my time going to school and spending time with Jesse to working non-stop and filling all my time with John.
What I needed now—what I didn’t realize I needed until tonight—was friendship. And somehow, I’d been blessed with a support system, a sisterhood, of some incredible women who understood my situation. They were a breath of fresh air, and because of their kindness and willingness to reach out, even when they didn’t have to, I was more grateful than they could imagine.
Chapter Forty-Nine
John
The chain of events that’d led to my drastic life change since Mark’s failed wedding months ago was something that I couldn’t even explain to a therapist and have them understand. Who was I kidding, understand? There was nothing to fucking understand about this.
“How are things going?” Seb asked, coming to Mom and Dad’s house to report for duty, as he did nearly every fucking day.
I took a sip of scotch and stared at the fire roaring in the fireplace, not making eye contact.
“Ever taken a piece of paper, crumpled it into a ball angrily, and thrown it into a fireplace?”
I heard him laugh while pouring a drink for himself. Then he sat in the oversized chair adjacent to where I was on the leather sofa, studying the flickering flames for the past few hours, contemplating if my life could get any worse.
“More than a few times,” he said in a stupid fucking smug voice that I hated. It was so contrived.
“Well,” I looked over at his happy-fucking-smile and glared at him, “that’s pretty much how I feel. I feel like our parents finally had their way with my life; they crumpled it up and threw it into the goddamn fire.”
“It’s not that bad, and you know it,” he said, leaning his elbows on his knees. “You and Summer will work things out, and she’ll make you a very happy man.”
