Becca looked around, practically bouncing on her toes with excitement. The song had changed and now it was some classic Bon Jovi and the crowd was still dancing. The girls were still out there and Sean and Jack had joined them. Ella was standing beside the stage and singing along happily.
It was a good night. It gave her such peace to see all of her friends so happy and smiling and…
“Hey, Becs,” a deep male voice said from directly behind her.
She froze. No. Freaking. Way.
Slowly, she turned around and found Danny standing directly behind her. He had a smarmy look on his face—bordering on lecherous—and it made her stomach turn.
“Saw you dancing out there,” he said, leaning in to be heard over the music. “Looking good.”
Ew. Seriously? Becca looked beyond him to see if Max was coming back. The last thing she wanted was to be seen talking to Danny by Max…or anyone really. Without a word, she went to move around him but he reached out and gently grabbed her upper arm.
“What’s the rush, babe? Let’s get a beer. It’s been a while.”
Deciding she’d had enough, Becca pulled out of his grasp. “Thanks but I think I’ll pass. Excuse me.”
She never got to move. Danny had his hand on her again and blocked her path. The wall-to-wall crowd wasn’t helping either.
“Oh come on, Bec, loosen up. One drink,” he said smoothly.
“Where’s your fiancée?” she asked snidely and liked how his smile slipped a little.
Danny shrugged. “I don’t know. Home or something. I don’t necessarily keep track.”
“Charming,” she muttered.
He huffed loudly. “You’re not seriously going to make a big deal out it, right? I mean she’s not here and you are. Let’s get a drink.” He reached out and traced a finger across her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
Becca swatted his hand away. “Don’t touch me,” she spat. “Don’t ever touch me again!” Then she stormed around him and spotted Max walking toward her. Without looking back, she met up with him and took him by the hand and quickly led him out of the bar. They were halfway across the parking lot when she heard Danny call out her name. Max stopped and turned around and Becca had no choice but to stop with him due to the fact that they were holding hands.
Danny stormed up to them. “For Christ’s sake, Becca, what is your problem?”
“My problem? Seriously? Why would you think—for even a minute—I’d want to have a drink with you?”
“I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“The big deal is that you’re a complete jackass! You were such a tool to me! And you have a fiancée! Or have you forgotten her again? Because you clearly forgot about her while we were dating!”
“Dating? Is that what you thought we were doing?” Danny looked down at her and then at Max and chuckled. “This guy? Really?”
Pulling her hand from Max’s, she got toe to toe with Danny. “Yeah, this guy. Really,” she said. “You could learn something from him—like how to be a decent human being. Just…go away, Danny. Don’t talk to me anymore. I have nothing to say to you.” She turned to walk away.
“You’ve got a hell of a lot of nerve, you know that?” Danny taunted. “You practically threw yourself at me when we met and I was nice enough to spend some time with you. We had some fun but you were always so damn needy and clingy!” He snorted with disgust and then leaned in close. “And you weren’t even that good in bed.” With a sneer, he looked over at Max. “You’re welcome to her. You look more her speed anyway.”
Becca wanted to die of embarrassment. How had everything gone so wrong so damn quickly? This was a good night—a great night!—and five minutes around Danny and it all came crashing down. Unable to look at Max, she turned to walk to his car when she heard a loud thud. Turning around, she saw Danny on the ground holding his face. Max stood over him menacingly.
“If you ever come near her again, I’ll do worse,” he threatened and then turned, reached for Becca’s hand and stalked away toward his car.
They were halfway to Becca’s house before she was able to make herself speak. “I’m so sorry, Max.”
Silence. His gaze was fixed on the road and his expression was hard.
Reaching across the console, she tried to touch him, but he flinched. Slowly, she pulled her hand back and put it in her lap. “Say something. Please.”
Silence.
By the time they pulled into her driveway, Becca was more than a little concerned. This wasn’t like Max at all. He never got mad, took everything in stride and was normally very laid back and understanding.
Clearly this was a side of himself he’d been hiding from her.
They climbed out of the car and once she had unlocked the front door, she noticed Max didn’t seem inclined to come inside. “Max?”
“I…I think I should go,” he said quietly, firmly.
Tossing her purse into the house, she faced him. “No. I think we need to talk about this. I don’t understand why you’re mad at me.”
His expression was one of barely banked fury, but he said nothing.
“Will you come inside so we can talk? Please,” she begged.
Max sighed and looked down at the ground for a long moment before looking at Becca again. “You know, as I was standing there in the parking lot listening to you, I realized something.”
“What?” she asked earnestly.
“When he asked you what the big deal was, I didn’t seem to play into the equation at all.”
She looked at him, brows furrowed in confusion. “I…I don’t understand.”
“When Danny asked you what the big deal was about having a drink with him, you said he was a jackass, a tool, he had a girlfriend he was now engaged to…you mentioned all those things but you never said it was a big deal because you had a boyfriend.”
Becca’s eyes went a little wide as his words sank in. “Max, I wasn’t thinking it all through. You know after he broke up with me, I never had the chance to confront him. So when the opportunity presented itself, I guess I just got caught up in it.”
He shook his head. “It’s more than that.”
She reached for his hand but Max took a step back. Now she was beginning to panic.
“And when he stood there mocking me,” He paused and shrugged, “You really didn’t seem all that bothered by it. You told him I was decent but…”
“Max,” she began, practically begging. “It was a shitty situation and I handled it poorly. The whole thing took me by surprise! Please. I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I’m not good at thinking on my feet like that or being confrontational.”
For a minute, she thought she had him. His posture relaxed and he let out a small sigh. When he reached for her hand, Becca thought they were good.
“Let me ask you something,” he began softly. “How do you feel right now? How did seeing Danny make you feel?”
“Honestly? Embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t believe I was ever so stupid,” she explained. “I see now how much better my life is.” She clutched his hand tightly in both of hers. “What we have is so much better than I ever thought possible, Max. I never believed guys like you were real. And when I think of us, I am so thankful. I’m so incredibly lucky because you are everything to me. Don’t you know that?”
He smiled sadly. “I thought I did. But…”
“No. No, no, no…no buts,” she said quickly and stepped in close to him. “I’m sorry if I didn’t act the way you wanted me to but I can’t change that. I’ve never been the type of person who says the right thing in the heat of the moment—especially in a fight.” Taking a steadying breath, Becca decided it was time to lay it all out on the line for him. “I love you. I love you, Max, and I hate that I did something to hurt you.”
Max studied her face for a long moment before he closed the distance between them and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Then he pulled away. “I’ll talk to you tomo
rrow.” And with that he turned and walked to his car and drove away.
Becca stood alone in the doorway wondering what the hell had just happened.
****
“I think the nachos may be to blame.”
Becca’s night wasn’t the only one that went downhill. Angie had gotten sick at the bar and was currently curled up on her bathroom floor. Sean was sitting next to her and holding a cool towel to her head.
“Don’t blame the nachos,” she said miserably. “I refuse to believe that something so good would do something so horrible to me.”
Trampus walked in, meowed, and did a slow inspection of the scene before walking out again.
“I should have gotten a dog. They’re way more compassionate,” she sighed.
Sean chuckled. “You don’t need a dog; you have me.”
That made her chuckle and then groan. “As much as I appreciate your willingness to compare yourself to an animal, now is not the time.”
“Do you think you’ll be okay if we move you to the bed or do you need to stay in here a little bit longer?”
“I can’t imagine there’s anything left inside of me, but the thought of moving is sort of bringing on a fresh wave of nausea.”
He kissed her temple before standing up. “Okay, stay put. I’m going to go and take care of some things.”
When he left the room Angie found she was mildly curious about what he was doing. Actually, that was a lie. She wasn’t curious at all because she felt her entire body going hot again and she silently cursed her rotten luck. With strength she didn’t think she had, she quickly sat up and found out she was wrong. There was something left inside of her.
Sean came back a few minutes later and gently scooped her up into his arms. Slowly he made his way to the bedroom and placed her down on the bed. Her entire body was trembling and he helped her get comfortable and covered her with blankets before kissing the top of her head and turning out the light.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
“I’ll be out in the living room. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
Angie couldn’t make herself answer because her eyes felt heavy and all she wanted to do was sleep. Unwilling to fight it, she closed her eyes and prayed she’d feel better in the morning.
****
“This was fun! Wasn’t this fun?” Ella asked as she walked arm-in-arm with Hailey across the parking lot. “We should totally do this more often!”
Hailey made a non-committal sound.
“I can’t even remember the last time we all danced like that! God, I used to love to dance! Why haven’t we done that more? When did we stop doing it?”
Ella was drunk. Hailey couldn’t believe her luck. Just when she was all set to pretty much pounce on Jack, Ella had come dancing over and pretty much rained on that parade. There was no way she could let Ella drive herself home and there was no way she was going to trust any random guy to do it, which meant getting Jack to go home with her would have to wait.
Again.
He was walking with them across the parking lot to Hailey’s car. “Yeah, Hailey, why did you guys stop going dancing?” he teased.
“Oh hush,” she murmured. “Don’t encourage this.”
“Oh you should to-tally encourage this,” Ella sang. “And you know what else you should encourage, Jack-son?”
“Ella, come on,” Hailey quickly interrupted. “Let’s get you in the car and get you home.”
“No, no, no,” Ella quickly replied and turned to face Jack. “You should totally encourage this one here,” she stopped to point at Hailey, “to loosen up once in a while. And you should totally follow her home.”
Hailey quickly unlocked the passenger door and tried to maneuver Ella into the car.
“She’s been waiting for you to take her to bed again!” Ella called out over Hailey’s shoulder.
“Oh, dear God,” Hailey mumbled before buckling Ella into the seat and shutting the door. She knew Jack was watching her and she also knew she was blushing clear to the roots of her hair. Clearing her throat, she forced herself to turn around. “So…”
Jack was grinning from ear to ear. “So…?”
“Drunk Ella is a completely new experience,” she said lightly, moving away from Ella’s door.
“I can see that,” he said and then pulled her in close. “You sure you’re going to be okay to take her home?”
She nodded. “I only had one glass of wine and that was hours ago.”
“That’s good. But I was thinking more about you getting her into her house and to bed all by yourself. I know she’s small but…”
“Yeah, I’m kind of wondering that too.”
“Tell you what, I’ll follow you to Ella’s and help you if you need it. If not, I’ll head on home. What do you say?”
Hailey couldn’t help but smile. “I’d say thank you very much. That’s very kind of you.”
He nodded. “Good.” Then with a quick kiss he walked toward his car.
Hailey climbed in hers and waited until she saw where he was waiting before pulling out. It wasn’t a long drive—ten minutes tops—but Ella was already asleep. By the time she pulled up in front of Ella’s house, Hailey was relieved that Jack had followed her. There was no way she was going to be able to get Ella inside without one of them getting hurt.
Jack was already opening her passenger side door when Hailey walked around. “Do you have her keys?” he asked softly.
Hailey nodded and quickly made her way up to the front door to unlock it. They worked together to get Ella up and into bed. Once Jack had put her down, he left the room to go and find a glass of water and some Advil while Hailey got Ella out of her shoes and jeans.
“Mmm…” Ella hummed. “Dylan?”
And right then and there Hailey’s heart broke a little bit more for her friend. Drunk and passed out and Dylan was still the first thing on her mind. Gently combing Ella’s hair away from her face she said, “No, sweetie. Dylan’s not here.”
Ella’s face scrunched up like she was about to cry before she rolled onto her side. “I miss him so much,” she said quietly. “Why won’t he come home?”
Jack had come back into the room and put the water and tablets on Ella’s nightstand. “Is she okay?”
Hailey leaned against him. “She’s so sad.”
Wrapping an arm around her, Jack pulled her close. “I know. I’m sure it’s not easy to be as close as you two are and not be able to do anything to help her.”
“Tonight…I really thought maybe she had turned a corner. And I feel bad because I wasn’t really happy about it.”
“What do you mean?”
Hailey shrugged. “I want Ella to be happy—more than anything. But I know now that she’ll only truly be happy with Dylan. What they had?” She looked up at Jack. “You don’t see that sort of love every day.”
His gaze was intense but he didn’t say a word. He simply held her close for a few minutes. Finally he asked, “Are you going to stay here tonight with her?”
“I thought about it. But I think she’s out for the night. Plus, I’m not sure she’ll want an audience when she wakes up with a hangover tomorrow.” Stepping away from him, Hailey made sure Ella was covered and then fluttered around the room making sure she had a clear path to the bathroom—and even turned the light on in there for her. With nothing left to do, she faced Jack and silently held out her hand to him.
Leaving Ella’s house, Hailey made sure the door was locked before walking with Jack back toward her car. “Thanks for following me here. I don’t know if I could have gotten her inside by myself.” She chuckled. “I didn’t think she’d fall asleep so quickly. In my mind we were going to do the drunk walk into the house.”
“You mean like the one the two of you did across the parking lot?” he asked, laughing with her.
She nodded. “Absolutely. Then I imagined the two of us tripping over each other as I tried to get her up the stairs.” She laug
hed again and shook her head. “Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve ever had to do this with Ella. Angie, yes. Becca, yes. But not Ella.”
“I can believe it. I’m sure if she ever drank before, Dylan was there to take care of her.”
Hailey nodded again. “It was always sweet to watch.” Then she shrugged. “And Ella’s really a lightweight. All of this tonight was only after two beers.”
“What? No!” Jack said with disbelief.
“It’s true. She’s always the designated driver because she doesn’t like to drink. That’s another reason why I was concerned tonight. Everything about her tonight was completely out of character. And seeing her talking to that guy? Charlie? It was just plain weird.”
“Come on, you can’t tell me in all the years the two of them dated that they never broke up. Not even for a little while? Or that no guy ever hit on Ella?”
“Nope. They started dating in middle school and pretty much everyone knew Ella was off-limits. Besides, it was so obvious that the two of them only had eyes for each other. I never saw Dylan even look at another girl. And believe me, there were a lot of them who tried to get his attention. He just wasn’t interested.”
Jack studied her for a minute. “This may seem like a stupid question but…has anyone talked to Dylan? I mean, you? Angie? Becca? Anyone?”
“We’ve talked about it, but we don’t want to upset Ella any more than she already is. I mean…it almost seems like a betrayal to do it.”
“But maybe it’s exactly what needs to be done,” he reasoned. “Dylan needs to know how much Ella’s hurting and someone needs to give them both a nudge. For all you know, he’s as much of a mess as she is and is waiting for someone to give him the green light to come and talk to her.” He paused. “I realize I don’t know them the way you do, but…”
“No, no…you’re right. Someone does need to do something. Maybe Ella will realize she needs to go and talk to him. I’m hoping tonight’s behavior will maybe open the door to some dialogue.”
Friday Night Brides Page 23