My vision blurred as I pushed my way to the bathroom. I slammed the door open, surprising the girls standing at the mirrors. Jess and Layla were there and immediately saw the mess I’d become.
“What the hell happened?” They caught me in their arms, and I collapsed. My heart still felt so much for him. I felt humiliated.
“Did he say something? I’ll go kick his ass.” Layla pulled back. I saw how infuriated she looked. Layla rarely ever got upset. She was the perky, bubbly one.
So naturally, I let out a horrendous half sob, half giggle.
They joined me and pulled me in closer. The tears flowed for a few minutes longer until I finally began to feel better.
That, and I didn’t want to be the drunk, sad girl, crying in the bathroom at a club.
“I’m sorry, guys. I wanted us to have fun.” I wiped the smeared mascara away with the tissue Layla had given me. “I can call a Lyft to get me.”
“We’re coming with you.” Jess crossed her arms and gave me her angry-mom glare. Layla mimicked her. I let out a small giggle once again.
“We can watch a telenovela to make us feel better,” Jess suggested. I loved that my friends were so empathetic.
“I love you guys.” I moved my arms around their shoulders, forming a tight group hug.
They were amazing friends. I was grateful that we had remained close over the years. The distance had only made our bond stronger.
“Oh my God, you guys are so cute.” The slurred words came from behind us. There was a girl who was watching us with teary blue eyes. “I want to join.”
The redhead wobbled over to us with open arms. Jess, Layla, and I exchanged looks before bursting out laughing.
“See?” Layla gave me a soulful look. “The universe wants you to be happy. She’s even sending random strangers to hug you.”
“Okay, which telenovela?” Jess clicked through the channels.
“I don’t think I’m going to be paying much attention. Put one on for background noise,” I suggested. Jess clicked on a random novela.
“I texted Quintin.” Jess had her phone in her face, typing aggressively. “I’m going to do some research.”
“No,” I groaned, throwing my head back onto the sofa. “I don’t need to get in my feelings. It’s already bad knowing that I’m still attracted to Jason.”
The image of Lola on his arm replayed in my mind. The humiliation returned. At least I hadn’t said anything stupid. It wasn’t like he knew I still was attracted to him.
The way his eyes had wandered over me would’ve been surprising, but I did look different. It wasn’t like he’d been checking me out.
“Lola Evergreen.” Jess flashed me her phone. “She’s not in school, but she does do modeling.” I peeked from the corner of my eye as I fought the curiosity.
“Even her name is beautiful,” I groaned and gave in, moving closer to Jess. She was on her Facebook page. Jess clicked on the first photo album.
I couldn’t give up tacos.
Jess’s phone dinged, and she gasped. “Good news. Quintin says he doesn’t know anything about Jason having a new girlfriend, so it means they’re not serious.”
My eyebrow raised. “What does he mean by not serious?”
Jess read the text from Quintin. “He says Jason would’ve told him about Lola.”
The knot in my stomach eased a bit, but I didn’t let that cloud my judgment.
It meant they’d just started dating, so they could get serious in the future. I mean, he had introduced her to me as his girlfriend.
“Oh no.” Jess dropped her phone in her lap.
I whipped my head to face her. “What?”
“You know how I invited you guys to Q’s and my get-together for our anniversary?” Jess locked her eyes on mine as I nodded. “He wants to invite Jason.”
I blew air out of my mouth as I processed the information.
“Q said he wants to make sure it’s okay with us first.”
Q and Jason had been best friends since they were little. I would have been devastated without Jess and Layla by my side, so I would have felt horrible saying no.
“That’s his best friend. Of course he can come,” I replied to Jess, who furrowed her eyebrows. I knew she wanted Q to have his friends there too.
“As long as I know ahead of time, I’ll be fine.”
I leaned back onto the couch and argued with myself to stay away from stalking Lola online. The last thing I needed right now was finding something that would make this worse.
But how much worse could it get?
The thought made me nauseous. I scoffed at myself for overthinking. I doubted that would happen. Jason lived for football. Either of those would take his focus away.
Jess elbowed me lightly. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks, Jess. I appreciate it.” I swung my arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. Jess rested her head on top of mine. We enjoyed the moment before I pulled away.
Jess gave me a bubbly grin. “Anything for you.” I giggled as I stood up from our gray sectional couch.
“I’m tired, so I’m going to head to bed now.” I stretched my arms over my head as Jess nodded. “Let’s see what tomorrow holds.”
