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“No, they loved Kiki.”
Interestingly he said ‘they’ love her and not himself.
“I won’t be able to find another trophy like her,” he whines, taking another shot glass from the bartender. He downs what I’ve decided is his last shot of the night.
I stare at my own whiskey, wondering if I should even bother. Listening to Henry talk about Kiki as if she’s some prize to be won to help him move up the corporate ladder makes my stomach churn. I nod at the bartender, saying, “We’ll tab out.”
“No, we can’t leave. You just got here, man.” Henry’s back to slurring his words, and I know I need to get him home before he becomes more belligerent than he already is.
“We’ll play some pool.” I nod in the direction of the pool tables in the back and pull out my credit card and toss it on the bar.
“I’ll kick your ass in pool.” As he says the words, two blondes walk by. “Hello,” Henry slurs at them. He tries his best to slide off the stool in one movement but stumbles a bit.
I grab him to keep him steady. “Let’s go, Casanova.”
Once the bartender returns my card, I help Henry to the back of the bar to play a bit of pool, hoping it might sober him up a bit before I get him home.
I rack the balls, and for about a good five minutes we play a friendly game of billiards. Until the blondes head in our direction.
Henry makes an ass of himself, damn near catcalling to get their attention. And my god, it fucking works. I can’t believe it.
They join us, and I want nothing more than to bail.
Even if Kiki was confused, and maybe unsure if she wants to go through with the wedding, I still feel bad being here as Henry is about to...I don’t even know.
I feel like a guilty bystander, watching it all go down—the flirty eyes, the smiles, the way the girls fawn over us.
“Hi, I’m Daphne,” one girl says, holding out her hand for me to shake.
“Hey.” Every part of this feels wrong, and I don’t give her my name.
If Henry wants to fight for Kiki, what he’s doing right now with Daphne and the other girl, Melissa...is not fighting. But the real sham of the evening is me. Yes, me.
What the fuck am I even doing here? Helping console Henry about his failed engagement while secretly cheering because it has?
It’s irritating me how Henry flirts with the two women, leaving me standing here with my stick, trying to concentrate on a moot pool game.
I mean, they just broke up a few hours ago. Come on, man, mourn the relationship a bit. This feels like it’s a major disservice to Kiki.
I’d be a wreck. Actually, I am a wreck because I want Kiki and can’t have her.
The drunk part of my brain is telling me to ditch Henry and rush off to call Kiki and beg her to go out with me. So, I can kiss her again.
The blondes are now playing pool with us, and I try to ward off the octopus arms of Daphne.
“So, you own a beer factory?” she slurs out like I’m some sort of Willy Wonka.
“It’s a brewery, and they make the best beer in the world,” Henry says, sticking up for my family’s beer factory, right before he plants a kiss on Melissa.
Should I pull him away? I mean, technically, he and Kiki broke up. Technically, Henry can do whatever the fuck he wants. And technically, so can I.
I should call her.
No.
I line up my cue stick and sink the nine ball, trying my best to not think about how Kiki is now single. She’s the type of girl you bring home to meet the family.
If you had a family worth meeting, and I do not. But, she’s already met my father, Yasmin, and Urban, so we’re ahead of the curve.
Don’t get me wrong, Urban is a hell of a guy and definitely worth meeting, but the other two are a hard pass. What am I even thinking about right now? I can’t call her. I can’t even think about her.
She just called off an engagement.
“Ellis, are you listening to me? Daphne asks, with a scowl on her face.
I scrub a hand down my jaw. “Sorry, I wasn’t. What did you say?” I lean an ear closer to her, so I can hear whatever it is she’s saying over the loud music of the bar.
“I said, we should get out of here.”
I glance over, and Henry is full on sucking face with the other chick. Fuck. Why can’t tonight be easy? To say I’m not completely over the moon about the news of Kiki and Henry’s break up is beside the point. I can’t handle Henry trying to drink and fuck his way into oblivion.
