by Steph Nuss
Bayler popped her head through the shirt and laughed. “So, you see him, too? I’m not the only crazy one!”
“Ohmigawd,” Tessa muttered, shaking her head as she came over to me. “She’s giving me a headache.”
I chuckled, and then led her into the hallway. “I’ll stay with her tonight. You can take my car and go home.”
“Really?” she asked uneasily. “I don’t mind staying. I’m the reason we ended up in this mess.”
“No, you’re not,” I said, shaking my head. “You didn’t force her to drink so much. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me.”
“Fletcher,” Tessa said, putting her hand on my arm. “You know what they say: a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts. You’re not the reason she drank herself stupid tonight. I know she’s super drunk right now, but she doesn’t blame anyone but herself for what happened with you.”
Tilting my head up against the wall, I looked up at the ceiling. “I should’ve never walked away from her.”
“And she shouldn’t have pushed you.”
Glancing back at her, I smiled. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“How do you hang out with Justin almost every day and not tell him how you feel?”
The smile from her face disappeared as her brows furrowed together. “Fletcher, I have my reasons for keeping my feelings to myself.”
“But don’t you think he’d want to know? That he deserves to know?” I asked, pushing away from the wall. “I mean, if Bayler and I would’ve just told each other how we really felt, none of this shit would’ve happened. I honestly don’t get how you can hang out with all of us and not want to say something to him. One look at Bayler, and I want to tell her everything I feel.”
“That’s not the same, and you know it.” She pursed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m not like the rest of you guys. I didn’t come from money or go to college. I’m a receptionist at my best friend’s office, and the only diploma I have is my GED. Do you really think I’m the woman of Justin’s dreams? Because I don’t.”
“I think you should let him be the judge of that,” I answered.
“He’s better off not knowing.”
“Come here,” I said, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. “I really hate hearing you talk about my friend Tessa like she’s not good enough for anyone.”
“That’s how I feel sometimes when I’m around all of you,” she confessed, tightening her grip on me. “Like I don’t belong.”
“Nah, we would’ve cut you out a long time ago if that was the case,” I teased, pressing my lips to her forehead. “You’re the scrappy one; we need you.”
She shoved away from me, laughing. “You know, I really hate when you guys call me that.”
“Hey, if the shoe fits,” I laughed, handing her my car keys. “Go home and get some rest.”
“Thanks, Fletcher,” she said, walking to the door. “I really do appreciate you helping us out tonight.”
“You can thank me by telling Justin how you feel!”
“Not gonna happen!” she exclaimed as she closed the door behind her.
Taking a deep breath, I turned around and went back into Bayler’s room. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I kicked off my shoes and then relaxed against the headboard. She was sound asleep next me, her breath softly whistling through her nostrils, and I planned to stay awake to make sure she kept breathing. She’d scared me tonight, I mean, really and truly scared the fuck out of me to the point that I thought she might not wake up. I’d never see her so lifeless than when she was in Saxon’s arms. She’d been drunk around me before, but not trashed and completely out of her mind like she was tonight. I never wanted to witness her like that again. I wanted my Bayler back, and I’d lie here next to her until she returned, completely sober and aware of my presence.
***
My head felt like a bomb had detonated from within, igniting tremors behind my eyes and setting off a painful wave of havoc. Peeking one eye open and then the other, I found my room bathed in the September sun. I immediately shut my eyes again, welcoming the dark, solitude of my eyelids. Rolling over, I buried my head in the pillow and stretched my arm out across the mattress, where my hand collided with a body.
Oh God, I thought, as I held my breath. Please don’t be a guy. Please just let it be Tessa.
Lifting my head from the pillow, I opened my eyes and found a wide-awake Fletcher lying next to me.
“Good morning,” he said pleasantly, in a loud tone that made me cringe.
“What are you doing here?” I croaked, covering myself with the comforter. I felt myself for clothes and thanked the heavens I wasn’t naked.
“Just making sure you made it through the night,” Fletcher answered, slipping out of bed. “I set a couple aspirins and bottled water on your nightstand.”
Peering over to my left, I found the items and grabbed them. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He stood a few feet from the bed. He appeared exhausted, with his shirt wrinkled and his hair a mess, as if he’d spent most of the night running his hand through it. “I’ll get out of here so you can recuperate.”
He started to leave, but then his name tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. “Fletcher?”
Smiling back at me, he replied. “Yeah?”
“I don’t really know what happened last night,” I admitted in a fluster. “I don’t know if I said or did anything rude or ridiculous, but thank you for being here and taking care of me.”
He leaned against the doorframe and stared back at me with amusement shimmering in his baby blues. “I’ll always be here for you.”
Then he turned back into the hall. But before he left, he peeked his head back into my room, his dimple-clad smile on full force. “Oh, and if you want to know what happened, you should ask Tessa.”
“I will,” I said, wrapping my arms around my legs.
I waited until I heard the door to my apartment close, and then I reached for my phone and texted Tessa.
Me: What the hell happened last night?!
Almost immediately, my phone started ringing, and I quickly answered her call to put a stop to the loud noise. “Please tell me I didn’t do something stupid last night.”
“I don’t know,” she laughed. “Depends on your definition of stupid.”
Then she proceeded to tell me everything that had happened the night before. From the shots to my Freudian slip, she didn’t leave out a single detail, and I felt horrible for putting Fletcher and her through such ridiculousness.
“I can’t believe I thought he really wasn’t there,” I gasped, covering my face with my hand. “How embarrassing!”
“Yeah, he handled it pretty well though,” she replied. “He was more concerned about you than anything. We both were.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, humiliated. “I haven’t gotten that inebriated in a very long time.”
“Well, promise me you won’t ever get that way again,” she urged. “It’s terrifying.”
If she felt that way, I couldn’t imagine how difficult last night was for Fletcher. “I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Two Weeks Later
My grams started a ritual of Saturday brunch a long time ago. It started when I was a little kid, and my parents and I would come over almost every Saturday to eat brunch with her and Grandpa. Now, I was sharing that tradition with Rook and Vail at Grams.
Since our breakup, Bayler and I had been trading off time with our Littles. She’d take them to a movie, or they’d come over to my place to hang out. It felt like we had shared custody of them, but neither of them had caught on to the fact that the four of us weren’t spending time together. They’d started school a few months ago, and I was thankful it distracted them from us.
“So, Rook,” Grams said, cutting into her pancake. “How’s football going?”
“He scored the winning touchdown last night!” Vail exclaimed, smiling proudly
.
Rook laughed beside her. “Next week, we’ll face one of our biggest rivalries, so we’ll see how that goes.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Grams said, smiling. She turned her eyes to Vail and nodded. “And V, what are you up to? How’s school going?”
“School’s school,” Vail said, shrugging. “I’m in this home economics class where we’re learning to cook, so Bayler’s been helping me with that.”
“What have you made so far?” Grams asked.
“We made tiramisu this week,” Vail said with cringe. “I’m not a fan of ladyfingers.”
“Ladyfingers?” Rook laughed loudly, waving his fingers in the air.
Laughing, I smacked the back of his head. “Get your head out of the gutter. They’re a cookie.”
“Yeah,” Vail said, shaking her head. “But they taste so blah.”
“That’s why they’re usually used in other desserts,” Grams explained, “to give them a little flavor.”
“My tiramisu didn’t taste too bad,” Vail said, confidently. “The teacher said it was the best-looking one out of the whole class.”
“I’m sure Bayler was happy to hear that,” Grams said. “What is she up to today?”
Vail took a sip of her orange juice. “She has a friend’s wedding today.”
“Oh, that’s right! She told me about that,” Grams said, eying me suspiciously. “Wasn’t that the wedding you were supposed to attend with her?”
“What?” Rook asked curiously.
“You were supposed to go to the wedding with her?” Vail asked, excitedly.
“Thanks, Grams,” I muttered, shooting her a chastising glare.
Laughing, she stood from the table and started to clear it, shrugging as she grabbed my plate and smirked. “I didn’t know they didn’t know!”
“I knew it!” Vail proclaimed, pointing her knife at me. “You like Bayler!”
Rook dropped his fork and smiled at me. “You like her? I mean, like her, like her?”
Placing my elbows on the table, I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could say I like her, like her.”
“Then why aren’t you going to the wedding with her?” Rook asked, his brows furrowed.
I sighed, wishing I didn’t have to disappoint them. “I don’t think she wants me there, guys.”
“How do you know if you don’t go?” Rook asked. “You can’t just not go now.”
“Exactly,” Vail agreed, smiling. “You have to go and tell her how you feel!”
“Yeah!” Rook asserted, linking his hand through Vail’s. “Surprise her, man. Girls love surprises.”
Grams laughed from the doorway. “They have a point.”
“You’re siding with them?” I asked her, smiling.
“What other side is there to take?” she asked.
I looked back at Rook and Vail, whose big smiles were infectious. “But we made plans to hang out today, and I’m not bailing on you guys.”
Vail picked up her napkin and threw it at me. “We’re not going anywhere! We can hang out tomorrow.”
Swallowing hard, I fought an internal battle with myself over whether or not I should go. I’d told Bayler I would, and I wasn’t one to go back on my word. But I hadn’t talked to her since the morning after her drunken stupor, so I still felt like things were rocky between us, like she wasn’t ready to let me back in. Then there was the fear of flying to Dallas. Would I even be able to get on the plane?
Yes, I thought, without a single doubt in my mind. This was Bayler. I would do anything for her, even get on a fucking plane.
Gazing up at Grams, I nodded to Rook and Vail. “Think you can handle these two?”
“I handled you, didn’t I?” she said, amused. “A couple of teenagers are nothing.”
“But you have to watch them,” I explained, pointing across the table. “They’ve been dating for a while now, so they’ll probably start making out whenever and wherever. Then once that happens, they’ll start sneaking off to ladyfinger one another.”
“Gah!” Rook complained, covering his face. “Don’t talk about that stuff in front of Grams!”
Vail’s cheeks flushed pink. “We would never do any of that.”
Grams’ elderly laugh clamored through the room as she pulled me up from my seat and smirked at the kids. “Eventually, you will do all that and more. Except back in my day, we called it groping.”
“Ah!” Rook shouted, moving his hands to his ears. “Would you both please stop talking!”
“Come on, Grandson,” Grams said, leading me to the door. “You have a wedding to get to.”
Once we were out of earshot of the Littles, Grams pulled me in for a tight hug and patted the back of my head. “I’m so proud of you.”
I sighed. “The wedding’s in Dallas, meaning I have to get on a plane.”
“Some people are worth facing our fears,” she said, pulling away from me. “Go get her.”
“Thanks, Grams,” I said, smiling. “I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie.”
***
The wedding was beautiful, just as I suspected it would be, with fall hues coloring every inch of the church and now the reception. I was seated at a round table with my family members who were also invited. Mom and Dad sat to my left and Grandma Ceci and Grandpa Jennings sat next to them. Then there was the empty chair beside me that kept taunting me, making me wish I’d talked to Fletcher. I didn’t have the courage to call him after I learned what I’d done the night I got stupid drunk. If I were him, I wouldn’t have wanted to come to a wedding with me.
“Bayler,” Dad said, pulling me from my thoughts. “Would you like to dance?”
“Sure,” I said, standing from my seat.
Taking my hand, he led me out to the dance floor, and then wrapped his arms around me and started swaying us to the words of Joni Mitchell.
“Your mom said she’d heard you RSVP’d for two,” he said curiously, smiling.
“Yeah,” I sighed, laughing. “I kind of ruined that weeks ago.”
He chuckled softly. “I’m sure you didn’t ruin it.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was looking at other women by now,” I teased.
“You know,” he said, twirling me out and then back into his embrace. “Men are always going to look at women, but the only ones we truly see are the ones we love.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
As the melody continued to move us around the dance floor, I rested my head on his shoulder and listened to the beautiful lyrics. The song was an intimate ballad about the push and pull of a relationship, about how his passion and love has been ingrained into her: an inflection of being in love and staying true to yourself. It was painfully gorgeous.
“Do you mind if I cut in?”
When I heard his voice, my heart leapt as I lifted my head and turned around to face him. With his hand held out, Fletcher stood before me in an all-black suit, looking sharper than ever, his blue eyes twinkling as his lips pulled up into a heart-stopping smirk.
“She’s all yours,” Dad said, placing my hand in Fletcher’s.
He pulled me as close as he possibly could and then whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry I’m late. I couldn’t catch an earlier flight.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, tears formed in my eyes as I swallowed around the knot in my throat. “You got on a plane for me?”
“I told you,” he answered, his breath deliciously hot against my ear. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“Fletch,” I sighed, burying my head in his neck.
“You look so beautiful tonight.” Skimming his hands up and down the sides of my blue wrap dress, his contentment and longing for me was evident. Being in his arms felt like coming home again, comfortable and welcoming.
“You look pretty sharp yourself,” I said, grazing my fingers over his lapels.
The song came to an end, but he never loosened his hold on me. He smiled down at me and caressed his thu
mbs over my cheeks, wiping away the fallen tears. “We have so much to talk about.”
“I know,” I said, taking his hands in mine.
“Is there some place we can—”
“Bayler!” Golden interjected. She hurried over to us with her groom, Alex, in tow, looking somewhat drunk already. “I didn’t see you with anyone at the wedding, so I thought your plus one had canceled.”
“Nope,” I said, donning a fake smile.
Fletcher slid a hand around my waist and held the other out to her. “Fletcher Haney. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the wedding.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she sneered politely. “How long have you two been together?”
“Since New Year’s,” he answered, smiling down at me. “She wore this sexy red dress, and I just knew I had to have her.”
“Isn’t that cute?” she said sarcastically, waving to another guest. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, we have more guests to greet.”
Golden took off with a solemn Alex, following behind her like a dog.
“Wow,” Fletcher muttered, laughing. “She really is a bitch.”
“I know,” I said, shaking my head.
“So,” he stated, “about that talk.”
“I know just the—”
“Dammit!” he said, reaching into his pocket. “My phone’s vibrating.”
He pulled the device out and tapped his finger across the screen. When his eyes widened, he turned the screen to me. “Harper’s in labor!”
“We have to go!”
Dragging him over to our table, I grabbed my clutch and motioned for my family to get up. “Maverick just texted and said Harper’s gone into labor! She’s having the baby!”
“I’m going to be a grandpa today,” Dad said, reaching for his phone. He immediately started barking orders to whoever was on the other end as Mom listened closely.
“Tell them we need to get there as soon as possible,” Mom said. “We can’t miss the birth of our first grandbaby!”
“The jet better be ready by the time we get there.” Dad ended the call and placed his phone back in his pocket. “To the airport!”