Page 96 of Open To Negotiation

“What?” I asked confused.

“Sixteen dollars and fifty cents for the shots.” She shot me an annoyed look. But not because I was asking, she sounded smug.

I frowned trying to place her. I thought her name was Riley, Noah had pointed her out to me once. Telling me that Theo never let her bartend in VIP because she had a thing for him.

“She doesn’t pay here,” Aubrey slurred her words from beside me.

“Just because you drink here for free doesn’t mean Theo cares about you. You aren’t the first woman who’s gotten the special treatment,” Riley said with a glare.

I didn’t miss that she used his first name, literally everyone but me called him Knight. Before our fight or breakup or whatever was happening, I wouldn’t have believed her. But now, I was hurting and full of alcohol, so her words landed.

“Fine, get the machine.” I pulled out my phone to pull up my credit card. Aubrey looked like she wanted to say something, but she decided taking her shots was more important; she grabbed them and wandered off.

“Sorry, honey. But I guess since I get to drink here for free now, I’m not that sorry,” she said with a smirk.

“Are you trying to insinuate that you slept with him?” I narrowed my eyes, trying to act brave when I felt on the edge of falling apart.

“Yeah, before he took off to London but he’ll be back. And when he does,” she placed the machine in front of me, “it will be me he calls to fuck.” I was frozen, my phone hovering away from the machine. “And that man is something else in bed, an animal really. His dick is huge, hits you in all the right places. And he has an insatiable appetite.” All the alcohol felt like it had left my blood stream, leaving me cold. “And he does this thing with his tongue…”

I stood there for another few moments, trying to push down the jealousy and disgust that was burning a hole in my stomach.

Guess my answer was that it wasn’t just a fight, or space, that it was a breakup. I’d worried he would sleep with someone back in London, not that he would do it here before my tears were even fucking dry.

I’d been holding on to the fact that he couldn’t tell me that he didn’t love me anymore, but I guess his actions spoke louder than his words. He didn’t care about me. I really had meant nothing. That would be the only reason he could’ve slept with her the day after we broke up.

Because if he felt a fraction of the way that I did, he wouldn’t have been able to even look at someone right now, let alone fuck them.

I shoved my phone on the reader and the second it beeped I turned, walked away and went in search of my drunk friend.

“Hey.” Wade stepped in front of me and grabbed my arm, stopping my search. “Did I just see you pay for a drink?”

I pushed down my emotions and let the numbness take over. I needed to get the fuck out of here right now.

“It’s not a big deal. I won’t be back here anyway,” I replied dismissively as I pulled my arm out of his hand. I saw Aubrey on the dance floor and made my way to her without looking back at Wade. “Aubrey, it’s time to go.” She whirled to me with a smile on her face but she frowned as she looked at me.

“What happened?” she asked concerned, already pulling out her phone. She may be drunk but at least she could get us a ride.

“Nothing, I just don’t want to be here anymore,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. She nodded and we made our way to the door, stepping outside, the summer air had lost the heat from the day and there was a chill, like it was going to rain. “How long till the car is here?” Aubrey tilted on her heels and I grabbed her arm to steady her.

“Max was nearby and I wanted him to pick us up,” she said as she sank down on the curb.

I looked behind me to see Dane watching us closely with a deep frown on his face. I smiled tightly at him and sat down beside my best friend. She rested her head on my shoulder, I rested my head on hers.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting,” Aubrey said. I just shrugged, I really didn’t know what to say. “He wasn’t good enough for you.”

That wasn’t true. But I appreciated the sentiment.

“Quinn.” I lifted my head and turned to see Dane standing beside me. “Do you want me to call Asher to come get you? Knight wouldn’t be happy you're taking a cab.” I just managed not to roll my eyes.

“It’s all good, my friend’s boyfriend is picking us up.”

“And he’s less than a minute away,” Aubrey added, now getting sleepy from the alcohol.

“Quinn.” Dane looked down at me.

“It’s sweet of you, Dane, but I really think Knight won’t give a shit if I get in a car with a stranger or not.” He frowned but luckily Max’s car pulled into the parking lot, coming to a stop across from us.

I helped Aubrey stand up and shot Dane a little wave over my shoulder. Hopefully it would convince him not to call Ash, I couldn’t deal with him right now. If he knew about what Theo was going to do and didn’t tell me I would never be able to forgive him, and since I was likely losing him anyway, I didn’t need to add to my hurt.