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“Yesh,” I slurred.
I’d called Frank to come get me after my third—or maybe it was my fourth—drink. I hadn’t eaten dinner since my date turned out to be crazy. The scariest thing was seeing my face on the groom. I wasn’t ever getting married. I shivered and tossed back the rest of the water Frank was making me drink and frowned. Why wasn’t it alcohol? If I could still remember what happened, then I wasn’t drunk enough.
Instead of ordering food when I got to the bar, I drank my dinner. Joy made sure on her way out that I wore some of her drink. That was after she ordered an appetizer, the most expensive meal on the menu, and a dessert. All of which I paid for.
I realized too late that I was going to be stranded in the city because I was too drunk to drive home. Frank was my first call, and he was a little too eager to make the forty-five-minute drive to come pick me up. My dating life was a joke, and I was tired of it. Frank was having the time of his life listening to me recount all the awful dates.
It was his fault I was in this mess. He said I was grumpy and needed someone to cheer me up, so he opened an account for me on a dating website called Kindred Matches. At first, I was furious, but then I warmed to the idea since all of my friends were falling in love. Except almost all the dates had gone horribly wrong.
I had only continued to go on them because I needed to get my mom off my back. She’d been wanting to set me up with the daughters of her socialite friends to find me a wife, and that was the last thing I wanted. I figured I’d endure the bad dates until I found someone I could tolerate, then I’d date them for a while so my mom would leave me alone.
It wasn’t going well. In fact, Joy was Frank’s pick. My bad date curse was following me, even when someone else was picking my dates. I was screwed.
“Didn’t the last girl try to eat you after dinner?” Frank asked, bringing me back to the present. He took a small sip of the beer he’d been nursing for the last hour.
I groaned. “I thought we’d hit it off at dinner. She seemed sweet and asked me back for a coffee. I assumed we’d make out and talk about date number two, but the minute her door closed, she was like a wild animal. Growling and everything. I was scared for my life, man.” I shivered and took a gulp of my drink.Damn it.I had forgotten I was drinking water again.
Frank laughed so hard he had tears coming from his eyes. “That’s hilarious.”
“Ha ha,” I said dryly.
“Remind me again what happened with the first one this month?”
I honestly couldn’t remember. The whiskey was clouding my mind, and things were getting fuzzier the more we sat here. I rolled my eyes at him. “I think you just want to laugh some more.”
“Damn right I do. This is great. The most entertainment I’ve had in a while. You should write a book.” He snapped his fingers. “Or better yet, you should write it in the next ‘Daily Happenings’ column.”
The “Daily Happenings” was the town’s online gossip column. It was supposed to go out daily, hence the name, but no one had wanted to write it. Posts popped up periodically on no set schedule, but no one could figure out who was actually writing them.
There was a post recently about Rebecca’s sister Kat—who blew into town two years ago like a storm—and me spending time together. But it wasn’t true. We’d hung out a few times at events and Sunday night dinners, but that was it.
“Can we get out of here?” I asked.
Frank looked at me and laughed. “Yeah. You look like shit.”
“Thanks. Love you too.”
He reached back and dug around in his pocket for his wallet. Normally, I’d stop him—I didn’t like people paying for me—but since I had paid Joy’s massive tab tonight, I let him pay. Frank tossed some bills on the bar top and tapped it with his fingers.
“Let’s go.”
I stood from my chair and wobbled a little.
“Don’t hurt yourself.”
Frank led me outside with a hand on my arm since I couldn’t walk straight to save my damn life. A rush of warm air hit me when we passed through the door. It was an unusually warm day for September, and the heat made my stomach roll. I needed a bed fast or else I was going to need a bathroom.
We walked in silence to Frank’s truck, and I nearly face planted. Frank caught me and pulled me against him.
“Shit, man. You’re worse than I thought.”
He folded me into the passenger seat and then jogged around to the driver’s side. Once he was inside, he turned toward me as he started the truck. “How do you plan on getting your truck tomorrow?”
Shit. I hadn’t thought about that. The only thing I’d thought about was getting drunk and forgetting the night had ever happened. I shrugged and let out a burp that was a little wet.
“If you throw up in here, you’re cleaning it.”
I grumbled out an okay and then rested my head against the cool glass of the window. My life was spiraling downhill. I could see it happening, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Ever since Frank married Mindy, things had changed. They were expecting twins now, and I was happy for them, but being alone caused the nightmares to return. The more I tried to shut them down, the angrier I became.
