Somehow, someone else’s crisis made mine feel less urgent.
The nausea faded and the pounding behind my temples dissipated.
Everything was back on an even keel.
Which meant I could drive.
I put the car into gear and pulled onto the street, breathing deeply.
Now that I was on the road, I felt okay physically, but I was still confused.
What had just happened?
When did I start getting panic attacks?
I’d only had a couple in my entire life, so this had come out of nowhere.
Was I really that stressed about this thing with Harley?
Obviously, I was.
Because losing Harley a second time wasn’t an option
Had I overreacted in cancelling the wedding?
Now that I’d had a few minutes by myself in the car, I suddenly felt bad.
I almost turned the car around but at this point, I’d just gotten onto I-15.
Then my phone rang, and I glimpsed Z’s name on the screen.
“Hey, man. I’m on the road.”
“Without Harley?” He sounded incredulous.
Crap.
“Yeah, we decided to take a few days’ break to breathe.”
Well, I’d decided.
“And she was okay with this?”
I didn’t say anything.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about my relationship issues with Z, but Allisha wasn’t available, and I needed to talk to someone.
“Tom?”
“I don’t know, dammit!” I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. “I don’t fucking know. How could she do this? Like, we specifically said not to tell anyone, and she immediately blabbed to her girlfriends. And not even really close girlfriends, like her sister or Presley, but to a group of women she only met a month ago!”
“Okay, she messed up. No one’s denying that. But she didn’t steal money from your account or talk to the tabloids about what your dick looks like.”
I snorted. “She can talk about my dick all day long. This other shit is just—why? What was she thinking?”
“She probably wasn’t. Like she said, it was like this was an extension of your grief therapy groups and I’m sure it never crossed her mind that her new friends knew Aurora.”
“So…am I the asshole?”