Page 13 of Never To Be Mine

“Random but not,” I said. “I didn’t invite her to try my smoothie. I didn’t pitch to them. She took it upon herself to try it.”

“I would guess it’s her job,” Drew said. “Probably looking for products to invest in.”

“You fucked that up,” Beau said.

“What’s done is done,” Callum said.

I wasn’t so sure. The conversation shifted to other topics. I participated enough to not be rude, but my mind was elsewhere.

I left Drew’s house an hour later, driving up the coast toward my place with the windows down. The ocean air usually cleared my head, but tonight it wasn’t working. I kept seeing those comments, kept imagining what Juno must be feeling every time she checked her phone.

That made me feel like shit. I was a lot of things, but I wasn’t cruel.

I needed to fix this somehow.

5

JUNO

Iadjusted the oversized sunglasses on my face and tugged the headscarf lower over my blonde hair. My eyes darted around the bar. It was dim but not dark.

I slid into the booth at the back of the bar. The place was quiet, which was exactly why I’d suggested it. Amber and Lena had shown up without question when I sent out the SOS. We went to college together, although we didn’t spend a lot of time together with all of us busy with our own careers.

Both of them eyed my ridiculous disguise with a mix of concern and amusement.

“Ms. Rat Piss,” I muttered into my first martini. Some teenager at the coffee shop had yelled it across the sidewalk like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. I’d nearly dropped my cup running for the car. The words still stung hours later.

Amber reached over and squeezed my hand. “It’s already dying down. By tomorrow everyone will be obsessed with some celebrity split or a baby hippo at the zoo.”

Lena nodded, stirring her drink. “Remember that guy who yelled at the barista last month? Gone in forty-eight hours. This’ll be the same.”

I sipped faster than I should have. It was a terrible plan but getting drunk was the only idea I could come up with. That stupid video ruined my life.

I told myself not to read the comments. That was as effective as telling myself not to breathe.

The comments looped in my head. If I ever needed a one-night stand, I had plenty of offers. People were so vile. And they fed off each other. One would say something nasty and then some other dipshit would add to it.

“If you stopped reading the comments you could pretend it didn’t exist,” Lena said.

“How can people say such nasty things?”

“Because they’re assholes,” Amber said.

I finished my margarita and immediately waved the server over. The first took the edge off, but I could still feel the stress.

“Tell me what you guys have been up to,” I said. “Distract me.”

They talked about their jobs. Lena’s latest bad date. Amber’s cat. Anything that wasn’t Hollis Blackwell or smoothies. It was exactly the relief I needed.

By the third drink my words were slurring and the bar felt pleasantly fuzzy. Amber paid the tab while Lena ordered a ride. They each took an elbow and guided me out without letting the scarf slip.

They rode with me the whole way to my apartment. Lena made sure I drank water and gave me a couple of Advil.

“Go directly to bed,” Amber ordered. “Do not drunk text anyone. Do not get on social media. Go. To. Bed.”

“I know. I will. Thanks for coming out with me.”

“That’s what friends are for.”