The question may have had the power to send me to my knees if it weren’t for Liam. Instead of answering truthfully, I nod. “I’m fine.”
I’m not. For more reasons than I care to examine right now. Liam’s last couple quips to Paul helped put a mask in place for me to get through the next few minutes, but on the inside I’m a raging ocean of emotion.
“I handled it,” Liam says in a tone that’s all business. “He gone?”
Nate glances over our shoulders, giving a short nod. “Yeah. Didn’t look happy.”
“He shouldn’t. Laid out the hard truths for the douchebag.”
I know that the conversation involves me, but I feel like a third party to it. The seriousness, the way they’re talking, it’s as though they’ve entered a different world that doesn’t include me.
Then it hits me. They did. They’re talking about this whole situation like it’s some emergency call they were sent out to deal with.
Nate’s jaw is set, his lips forming a thin line as he gives me a once over. Assessing. Calculating. Triaging. “You sure you’re okay?”
He might as well have asked if I was sure I didn’t need an ambulance for how it sounds. I can envision the scenes he must arrive to and ask that same question to patients that refuse to go to the hospital. I wonder if they feel the intensity of his eyes boring holes in their skulls like I am right now.
“Yeah,” I mutter.
“Did you know he was in Vegas?” Nate questions, his hands finding his hips.
One day he’s going to make a great dad, I’m sure of it. His kids will never want to do anything to disappoint him so long as he uses that tone and stance. It makes me want to sink into the floor.
“I… uhm…” Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes for a brief moment. Liam’s arm tightens imperceptibly, giving me a small squeeze that Nate wouldn’t notice. I feel his reassurance, telling me he’s got my back, and I don’t need to worry. I know it without looking at him, without him saying a word, and I’m grateful. Borrowing his strength, I lift my chin higher. “It’s his bachelor party.”
Nate’s face falls. “He’s getting married?”
“Guys, what’s going on?” Savanna’s voice rings loud and clear from just behind Nate. I didn’t even see her coming. “We need to get go—” She cuts herself off, realizing the solemness surrounding her. “What’s wrong?”
I can’t stand this. When this week started and I first found out about Paul, I swore I wouldn’t let it impact Savanna and Nate’s wedding or the party surrounding it. They weren’t supposed to find out what was going on, and I kept it under wraps fairly well until last night. Not that Savanna spilled the beans to Nate, judging by his questions. Unless she was too drunk last night to remember.
Either way, the drama ends now. We don’t need to talk about it. In fact, I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk about Paul, I don’t want to discuss him getting married, or how that makes me feel, and most of all I don’t want to think about Liam swooping in to save my ass.
There are far too many things to think about for me to start on that last one.
Slipping out from under Liam’s arm, I grab onto hers, spinning her around in the direction she came. “Nothing. Sorry I’mlate. Blame Liam.”
We decided there was no harm in telling everyone that we went to the Grand Canyon today. We might be screwing each other while we’re in Vegas, but we’re also friends. My desire to visit the Grand Canyon wasn’t something I kept secret, or only shared with Liam, so there was really no reason to hide it.
Plus, the less we hide, the better.
“Just keep an eye on her,” I hear Nate say from behind us. His voice is low, but there’s a lull in the slot machines that presents me the opportunity to hear him.
Taking a breath, I let it out slowly. It annoys me to no end that Nate thinks I need to be looked out for. That I can’t look out for myself. Sure, I froze up when I saw Paul, but he was the last thing I was expecting to see. Liam has consumed so much of my attention the last few days that Paul hasn’t taken up much room.
Which he shouldn’t. It’s been months. I know. It was the news of him being engaged that threw me off. Made me doubt myself. Think there was something wrong with me. It wasn’t him as a person, or as a boyfriend.
I glance over my shoulder, catching sight of Liam. He and Nate are walking a couple of paces behind us, but his attention is focused on me. Quickly, I turn back, tightening my grip on Savanna’s arm still looped through mine.
Jesus, if Nate only knew how much Liam had already been looking out for me. It’s ironic, really. My brother doesn’t want me to date his friends, and yet the one friend who doesn’t date has been the one lifting me up, instilling confidence in me that had been lost, showing me I’m exactly what I told myself I was at the beginning of this trip.
A knockout.
Liam has been nothing short of amazing the last few months.Showing me I’m worthy of a man who would be loyal and treat me with respect and dignity, not a boy whose eyes roamed every time we were out.
I told myself I didn’t care about Paul. Everyone looks once in a while, right? It was better if he was telling me how pretty this girl was, or how hot that one looked instead of keeping it from me. I’d even agree with him a lot of the time. There was nothing wrong with that. But I always wondered—was it her smaller boobs, or longer legs, that he liked better than mine?
He never made me feel like I was enough for him.
