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I moved toward the house while the conversation continued behind me, but instead of heading toward the bathroom, I pulled out my phone and called for an Uber.I walked straight through the foyer and out to the front yard.In two minutes, a stranger picked me up and took me home where I fell apart in the privacy of my own space, determined to never let Travis know how much he’d broken me.
I’d never be so stupid as to fall in love ever again.
Never let your friend set you up without your permission
TRAVIS
Shit shit shit.
That was all that kept going through my head as I watched Sadie walk into the house after Troy opened his big, stupid mouth about the blind date I didn’t fucking want or ask for.All because he thought I was moping too much at work this week.
I gritted my teeth, my jaw clenching painfully as I tried not to be obvious about constantly glancing back at the house waiting for Sadie to re-emerge.I needed to see her face and know that she was okay.
My chest ached and my stomach pitched painfully as I recalled the look of complete and utter heartbreak on her face when she looked at the woman Troy brought for me.I needed to find a way to clear up the situation.I couldn’t stand the idea of her thinking I’d moved on so quickly like she was meaningless to me when that couldn’t be further from the truth.I’d been a shell of a man without her.I’d never been so fucking miserable in my entire life.
Fuck, just the few minutes I got to see her was like getting air after being deprived for too long.She looked so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.Although, that wasn’t entirely true.She looked tired.And her eyes drooped in the corners in a way I hadn’t ever seen before.
She looked as sad as I felt.And I hated that I couldn’t take away her hurt.I hated even more that I was the one who hurt her.
And then her sadness morphed to even greater heartbreak as she’d looked at my “date,” and I couldn’t bear the idea of her hurting so much over a complete misunderstanding.
I caught Jenna glancing at the house as well, a deep furrow between her eyebrows and a frown on her face.I sidestepped closer to her—and farther away from my too handsy “date”—and bent down, lowering my voice so only she could hear me.“Is she okay?”
Jenna barely spared me a glance before her gaze was back on the house.“I don’t think so.”She nibbled her lip, but never moved her gaze from the house.Then she confided, “She’s heartbroken over some guy.I’ve never seen her like this before, and I’m really worried about her.I thought getting out of her apartment might do her some good, but she was hesitant as soon as we got here.Maybe I pushed too soon.”
I felt sick.Completely and utterly sick to my stomach with a heavy dose of guilt.I didn’t know if I felt more guilty for what I’d done to Sadie or for putting my daughter through all this concern over her friend.
Or for lying.I was definitely feeling guilty over the giant lie hanging over my head.
“I’m going to go inside and check on her,” Jenna said and then immediately headed into the house.A few minutes later she came back out with her head bent, her eyes focused on her phone in her hand and that frown still firmly in place.
“Everything okay?”I asked, walking toward her without even bothering to excuse myself from my group.I knew I was being a terrible host, but I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit.
Jenna shook her head and looked up at me.“She left.”
“What?”
She glanced back at her phone and I could see her reading a text.“Yeah, she said she wasn’t feeling good.”She said it like she knew it was a lie, and that knot in my stomach tightened.
“Are you going to go over there?”She usually did—it was what they’d always done for each other—and I needed to know Sadie wasn’t alone and in pain.I needed someone there since I couldn’t be.
But Jenna shook her head.“No, she said she needed space tonight.I don’t know who the hell this guy is, but he really fucked her up.”
I already felt like shit for what I did to Sadie, but hearing Jenna’s scathing remark delivered with such anger and venom felt like I’d been ripped in half with a sword covered in acid.Despite my insides feeling like they’d shriveled up, I kept my face neutral.
“I think I’m going to head to my own place and check on her in the morning.I’m not feeling very social anymore.”
I dropped a kiss to her head.“Okay.Drive safe.”
“I will.”She stepped away from me and threw a wave to Wyatt at the grill, who frowned when he realized she was leaving already, and then she exited out the side gate where she’d entered barely thirty minutes ago.I watched after her until she was out of sight, and when I turned around, Wyatt was almost to me.
“She’s leaving already?Wasn’t Sadie with her?”I must not have kept my face as composed as I’d hoped because his gaze softened with sympathy.“Oh fuck.You ended things, didn’t you?”
I tried to clear my throat to speak, but couldn’t, so I just nodded.
“When?”
“A week ago,” I said, my voice hoarse.
