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“He’s not answering you. Do you think drunk texting him will make him change his mind?”
We remained in a stare down. Suddenly, I realized that it wasn’t anger churning inside of me. My eyes widened.
He sat up and pointed to the bathroom. “Go!”
I ran to the toilet, and flipped the lid open just in time. The tequila that burned going down hours before burned even worse coming back up. I felt Tanner’s hand on my back in an attempt to comfort me, and I was thankful to not be alone. The waves of vomit lasted what seemed like forever. When I felt like I had nothing left inside of me, I hovered over the bowl to catch my breath.
“How many shots did you have tonight?” Tanner asked, crouching on the floor behind me.
I held up five fingers, spitting into the toilet.
I heard him exhale as he leaned against the bathtub.
I clutched the sink, pulling myself up. I swished my mouth out with mouthwash, and plopped back down beside him. Tears began spilling down my cheeks, as all of the emotions I had stuffed down inside began to surface.
“Please don’t do the drunk girl crying thing.” Tanner closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
“I’m sorry,” I sniffled, wiping my nose with the back of my hand. “I just don’t understand why my life has to be like this. My mother ruined everything! Everything was fine before she left us. My dad was happy. I was happy. When she left, everything went to shit! Then, Chase came along and everything was great again. Chase and I were great, and then she knocks on my door to ruin everything all over again. She must have radar or LoJack on me or something. Every time I’m happy, poof! There she is!”
“You can blame her for everything if you want to, but eventually you have to take responsibility for your own actions. You are the one who chooses to let her consume your life. You are the only one who can make it stop.”
I looked at his blurry face through my puffy, tear-soaked eyes. “Why is everyone in your family so insightful?”
“I can’t take the credit for that one. My boxing coach helped me with a lot.” He looked down at his lap. “And Charlotte.”
I covered his hand with mine. “You will get her back. If she loves you, she won’t be able to stay mad at you for long.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because no matter how mad I am at your brother, it’s always worse to be without him.”
He looked down at my hand, and his face suddenly twisted in disgust.
“What?”
He picked my wrist up, holding my hand up to my face. “You have puke on your hand, and now it’s on me.”
I pointed. “The soap’s on the counter.”
He stood, frantically scrubbing his hands in the sink.
I laughed, until I felt another eruption make its way up my throat.
In between heaves, I heard Tanner sigh as he sat back down on the tile. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Chapter Ten
The Fighter
The tile felt cold under my face when I woke up. I picked my head up, and looked for Tanner. He had made a bed inside the tub with my pillow and comforter. His bulky body looked funny crunched inside the small space. I would have laughed if my head didn’t hurt so badly.
I stood, looking at my reflection in the mirror. Black mascara streaked down my cheeks, and my eyes were almost swollen completely shut from crying so much. I wanted to take a shower, but I did not want to disturb Tanner, no matter how uncomfortable he looked. He had stayed up listening to me cry for the duration of the night. I felt sad for him that Charlotte was not speaking to him, but knew in my heart that she would come around soon enough. Though he was a self-proclaimed screw-up, he had a good heart. Like his brother.
Walking into the living room, I searched for my purse. I needed aspirin and my phone, in that order. Swallowing the pills, I chugged an entire bottle of water. I swiped open my phone to find a plethora of texts from Shelly, Brody, and Tina. I did a double take when my eyes settled on Chase’s name. He had texted and called me at around ten this morning. It was now noon.
I immediately called him, as my heart pounded in my chest, hoping that he would answer.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asked as soon as he picked up.
