Page 72 of The Pucking Grump

I recall the conversation where I almost lost my cool. Ken’s right. Luke was asking about Faye’s tickets a lot.

“He got a girl or something?” Alex asks.

Ken shrugs. “Yeah, he said something like that. Doesn’t mean he needs to keep bringing up Faye Strummer every single day.”

Alex is grinning again. “Well, when you get someone you love, you’re bound to do stupid things.”

“The only thing Luke is in love with is tapping that ass,” Ken mutters. He looks over at Alex. “But what’s your theory? Love makes men do crazy things?”

Alex pulls a face. “I mean, I couldn’t even stand thinking about a baby. Next thing, I hear Brit is pregnant, and I’m looking forward to the day I’ll be changing my first diaper.”

My discomfort expands. Their conversation doesn’t involve me, but it’s getting deeply personal. And I can’t help feeling like it’s going to go even deeper.

“How did you know, though?”

“Know that I’d love my baby?”

“No, fool. How did you know you were ready to take the leap with Brit? I mean, you were in a fake relationship. Next thing, you two are getting married.”

I remember asking our friend Reggie this exact question on the day of his wedding. His answer did nothing to change how I felt about the concept of lifelong companionship.

On the other hand, though, that conversation happened before I met Faye.

History must be laughing at me right now.

I kind of understand why my friends were so flummoxed about my dating her out of nowhere. Honestly, they should have given me a much harder time.

“Wasn’t so much of a leap as it was a slide,” Alex says.

“Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Does the man ever stop grinning nowadays? “Just saying. There was no fear or force involved. Didn’t have to leap. It was a slide. It felt natural, like it was the next step I’d been waiting for all my life.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic, you aren’t writing a love song.” Ken shoots a cautious glance my way, and my emptiness increases as I think of Faye’s lyrics from the day before.

My friends are kind of right, I admit to myself. I was all over the place recently. I had no business getting Ben to back off her. Or texting her that damn much. Or creating a routine that involved seeing each other every day.

From the moment I marched into her dressing room and fucked her within earshot of so many of her employees, I changed our relationship forever. And that confused her into believing she is in love with me.

It’s all my fault. But it’s also a pretty clear misunderstanding that can be sorted out quickly.

Whenever I see her again.

“It does sound like a love song, but it’s the truth,” Alex chimes in again. “I had feelings for Brit all through our PR stint, and I think she felt the same way. Just couldn’t find a way to admit it to myself, you know. And then, she started to talk about moving out of Philly. Realizing how empty I would be without her led me to being honest with myself.”

This conversation is too damn personal. Almost like Alex is trying to come at me. I stand up, deciding to head to the other room.

But then the ringing of Alex’s phone distorts the atmosphere. He pauses the game and picks it up.

“Oh,” he says a second later, a frown replacing his grin. “I’ll tell him.”

He looks at me. “When did you hear from Faye last?”

My heart brims with guilt. Am I going to have to tell them everything that happened last night?

“Who just called you?” It always works like magic, deflecting a question with another.

Alex definitely falls for it. “Brit. She says that Faye’s causing a commotion on X.”

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