Page 74 of The Other Room

Like bobble-head dolls tethered together by a pole, their heads lifted up and down in unison. Paired with their matching blonde hair and overdone makeup, I began to wonder if they were clones and I was seeing double... or triple... or whatever the hell they called six-vision. Though Nikki sported the same designer clothes and exaggerated make-up, she at least rocked a different hair color. And once again the flash of red begged me to grab it and yank her to the floor and drag her right out the door.

“So, we blew out of the city, rented a some rooms in Sister Bay, and we’re here for the whole week. So good to be home. I missed you guys!”

Nikki had always been selfish, trapped in her own narcissistic world where nothing mattered but her. But this complete and utter lack of understanding of how much we hated her was enough to make me wonder if Matt really had kissed me senseless. I mean, I was seeing in septuplet vision. Maybe I’d hallucinated Nikki into being. I shook my head and looked again. Nope. She still sat on one of my bar stools like a delusional whore with her whore posse, thinking I could actually be friends with the likes of her.

Friends after she’d cheated on Jake. Friends after she’d kissed... Matt.

My Matt.

The visual flashed into my mind and I closed my eyes against it. It was bad enough picturing Matt with Nikki when we he and I were just friends, but now, after having spent all night in bed with him, the visual amplified to unbearable levels.

And with it, so did my rage.

It ripped open the wound I’d just managed to close, and it made the pain that much more excruciating. My hands trembled as anger coursed through me.

Anger at her.

Anger at Matt.

No. I struggled to stop the spiral. Matt had earned his forgiveness. My anger toward him was gone and it needed to stay gone.

It had to. I loved him.

But the anger inside me needed to go somewhere, and a redhead sitting at the bar made a perfect target.

I stomped my foot like the bull staring at the red cape. Salivating. Snorting.

Charging.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I spat.

Nikki sat back, the whites of her eyes flashing for a moment before she rolled them and sighed. “Oh, Jo. You aren’t still pissy with me, are you? That was so last year.”

She turned to her friends. “Jo is best friends with...” she covered her mouth and whispered his name, “Jake. My ex.”

“Oh!” The echoed and vacant eyes all turned back to me at once.

So creepy.

“How is Jake? Is he still puttering around Baileys Harbor?” she smiled, and I wondered why I couldn’t see fangs in place of her perfect white smile.

My eyes narrowed into slits, unable to tolerate her haughty expression. “Don’t you dare ask about Jake.”

“Oh, come on. It was an accident. Is he all better? I did feel pretty bad.”

She faked a grimace, and I glanced at her hair again. One quick sweep of my hands and I could yank her over this bar and start working on those bruises I kept envisioning.

“Jake is better than ever if you must know. He’s engaged now.”

“Is that so? To who?” she scoffed.

I smiled.

No.

I gloated with my mouth.

Leaning forward on the bar, I tipped my head. “Didn’t you hear? I figured you would have. Have you girls ever heard of Cassandra Davenport?” I asked, knowing this group of wannabe fashionistas probably worshiped the ground she walked on. The queen of high society, Cassandra Davenport’s former lifestyle probably remained the stuff of envy for a vapid bunch of automatons like this crew.