Page 97 of The Other Room

Two margaritas and a rum and coke. Easy enough.

While I stumbled through the motions, memories of Matt in my arms kept invading my mind. But they were quickly replaced with visions of him in Nikki’s arms and then... that photo on Instagram flashed back into my mind.

This morning Jenna had gone stalking Nikki’s Instagram account today for any proof to exonerate Matt and prove her superpower was still intact. Instead, we’d found proof of the exact opposite.

When I’d seen it on Jenna’s phone this afternoon, I’d almost thrown up, and just thinking about it brought the same gag reflex that had kept me from eating a single bite of food today. Not only had I caught Matt in Nikki’s arms last night, but instead of coming after me, it turned out he’d gone back to her hotel with her. One of her friends had posted a photo of her in bed with him, pounding the final nail on the coffin of his guilt. And the final nail of the wall I had quickly resurrected around my heart.

And when I’d finally turned my phone back on this morning? Little pinging notifications of pain had announced every single indiscretion. It seemed everyone on the planet had to text me to say how right I’d been to stay mad at Matt, because as it turned out, he was exactly who I’d thought he was.

Little did they know, I hadn’t stayed mad at him at all, and instead had gone and revealed my love for him.

So stupid.

All morning long I got my mistake thrown in my face. My texts had blown up with other people sending pictures of Matt cradling Nikki in his arms up by the Garage and The Bowl. I’d had to shut off my phone the rest of the day to stop from being bombarded with proof that took away any doubt trying to creep into my mind that maybe I’d been mistaken. I hadn’t. It was true. Matt had been with Nikki. He’d lied to me. Betrayed me. Broke my damn heart.

“Jo? I think it’s full.” Hanson pressed a hand on my shoulder.

“What?” I looked down to see the glass overflowing with Coke, my finger still pressing the button on the gun. “Oh shit.”

“If you need to take a night off and go home, I’ll totally cover for you. You saved my ass yesterday. I owe you.”

I dumped the drink out down the drain and turned back to face him. He pressed his glasses up on his nose and gave me a sympathetic smile.

“Hanson, I really appreciate it, but I don’t want to go home.”

Home was where Matt likely was.

Home was filled with memories of him.

Home was the last place I wanted to be.

“Just let me know if you change your mind.”

“You’re the best. Thank you. But it’s getting busy and I’m not going to leave you in the lurch.”

Get it together, Jo.

I’d survived worse, my own father leaving, and even though it didn’t feel like it, I knew I’d get through this, too.

I refilled the rum and coke and carried it over to the waitress station. One by one the stools filled up, and I welcomed the distraction. Hanson and I flew into gear like a well-oiled machine, and soon my memories of Matt were overrun by drink orders, food orders, and the bar of people three-deep all vying for my attention.

“Behind!” Hanson shouted while he blew past me.

I scooted out of his way, careful not to spill the three margaritas clutched in my hands. While I scanned the crowd trying to remember which customer they belonged to, my gaze skidded to a stop when it moved to the huge window overlooking the street and caught sight of a truck driving by JJ’s slowly.

Matt’s truck.

No. Hell no!

So much for my ruse about leaving town.

Hoping he’d not seen me behind the wall of bodies all vying for my attention, I slouched down a little for good measure. My heart hammered in my chest as I watched the doors waiting for him to walk in, but after ten minutes of nothing, I finally exhaled a breath of relief.

Grateful he’d either not seen me when he crept by or decided showing up here would be a terrible idea, I switched my focus back to digging myself out of the hole that had swallowed Hanson and I up. Getting through the dinner rush was a pain in its own right, but getting through the dinner rush trying to hold together the pieces of my shattered heart proved a different beast entirely.

A gnarly, carnivorous, unrelenting beast that tried to devour me every second of the night.

A couple hours later, the crowd had cleared, and Hanson and I stood side by side downing our first glasses of water all night.