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Maybe I should try calling my family to let them know what’s going on. But Karli’s is the only voice I can even stand to hear right now.
When I finally give up on my tasteless burrito, I head outside for some air. I feel like shit and in my crumpled and stained button-down shirt and tie, I’m guessing I look like it, too. A group of women in mini skirts stumble by, tightly clutching their purses and giving me wary looks as they head toward the bar. I don’t blame them. I probably look like a living, breathing major red flag right now.
Leaned against my car in the darkening motel parking lot, I feel utterly alone in this world.
When I’m tired of standing around in the shadows like a creep. I stumble to the motel’s reception desk to rent a room to lay my head on this miserable night.
I get assigned to the dingy room Karli and I shared on the night we met. It’s like fate just had to make sure to twist the knife a little bit deeper. Returning to that room is like one more tiny dig into my already bleeding chest.
Dropping my duffel bag on the floor, I pop a few pills for my headache. Wish I had a prescription for this pain in my heart, though.
I chose Karli knowing fully well that that decision could jeopardize my job, end my friendship with Felix and ruin my chances of starting over in this town. And predictably, my life blew up in my face.
I managed to lose a job that I really liked and tear down a longstanding friendship in the process. All because I couldn’t break my old destructive patterns. Fuck—when will I learn my lesson?
New town. New Mason. What a load of crap. Clearly, I haven’t changed my old habits one bit.
Sucking in a lungful of smelly air, I plop down on the stained sheets. I stare up at the ceiling and hear distant echoes of playful banter inside my pounding head. I hear Karli’s voice and mine, our conversation from when we first met.
“I don't know what's going on in your life. And you don't know what's going on in mine. But the good news is, after we walk out that door, we never have to see each other again. Right?”
“Right.”
I squeeze my eyes tighter, trying to shut down my thoughts. But they just keep spinning, replaying memories of the night that changed everything. Forever.
“See ya—I mean—no, don't wanna see ya. Ever again. I mean…You know what I mean."
“Yeah, I don't wanna see ya, either. Get outta here. Have a nice life, weirdo."
"Yeah, have a nice life.”
We were doomed from the start. We both knew it.
Yet, we carried on with this anyway.
My chest is absolutely throbbing. I splay a hand over my achy ribcage, trying to force the pain to stop. Nowhere to run and hide from this pain, though.
My heart is fucking broken, man.
48
KARLI
My heavy eyes flutter up to the clock on the wall again. Damn. I can’t believe how long we’ve been here.
I poke my head inside the hospital room and force a small smile for Layla’s benefit. “You have everything you need?”
She clutches Sky tightly to her chest, cupping the back of her baby’s head as her gaze darts around one last time. “I think so…”
“All right. Come on.” I grab the diaper bag out of her hand and together, we step out into the fluorescent-lit hallway. When I sling an arm around her shoulder, I feel my best friend instantly sag into me.
I’m tired, too. And I undoubtedly stink. And my mind is spinning over Mason. But I’ve got to be calm. I’ve got to be steady. For Layla. For Sky.
Last night was a long night. Watching my friend chew off her fingernails and try not to cry as the doctors poked and prodded and made attempts to figure out what was wrong with her hysterical baby? That was difficult to witness.
It definitely didn’t help that all the medical staff here was incredibly rude and short-tempered. I got to see firsthand why people around town are complaining about the way the local hospital is being run since the takeover.
And to make everything exponentially harder on my friend, Razor was nowhere to be found. Not that I’m surprised, of course, but it was so unfair seeing Layla go through this turmoil without having the father of her child by her side.
