Page 97 of Myself

“Nice to meet you,” I say with a head nod.

His eyes widen. “Jaycent Barnett?” he asks.

“The one and only,” I say.

“You know him?” Becca asks.

“He’s one of the best architects in town.” He looks me up and down again and then smiles. “He is as smart as he is hot,” he says, and Ashlyn giggles.

“We all have our days,” I assure him.

“You’re hot every day, baby,” Becca assures me with a flirty wink, and I smile.

“I’m not sure that is what he meant.” Ashlyn laughs.

“What ...?” Becca asks, waving her beer around in the air.

A phone goes off, and Thomas pulls a cell from out of the back his pocket. His face falls when he looks down at it. “Not me,” he informs us then places it back in his pocket.

It beeps again. “It’s not mine,” Becca says, shaking her head. “Mine died an hour ago.” Then she tips her beer back.

It beeps again, and Ashlyn looks at them. “What?” she asks.

“It’s your phone, dear,” Thomas informs her.

She rolls her eyes and yanks her little black purse open. She pulls out her phone and squints as she looks down at it. “Oh, it’s Rick.” She frowns.

“I think his name was Nick,” Becca informs her.

Ashlyn looks up at her with her head tilted to the side. “I saved it as Rick.”

Thomas rolls his eyes. “Who cares what his name is? He was hot. What does he want?”

She squints as she lifts the phone closer to her eyes. “To see if we made it home.” Becca and Thomas both aww at that. “And if I wanna have dinner Monday night.”

“Oh, yes.” Thomas sets his beer on the countertop and claps excitedly.

She sets her phone next to it and shakes her head. “I don’t think ...”

Thomas grabs her phone, and she stops midsentence and asks, “What are you doing?”

He twists his back to her as she reaches out to him, and he types on her phone. When he turns back to her seconds later, she is giving him the death glare. “You accepted.”

She lets out a huff and says, “Your ass is sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“Honey, I can sleep anywhere.” Then he picks up his beer and takes another sip of it.

**

Sunday morning, I was the first one up. No surprise there. The girls and Thomas didn’t come home from the club until almost five a.m., and then we all stayed up talking long past the sun coming up.

Becca had passed out on the couch, and I carried her to bed. Ashlyn pretty much crawled to her room even after I offered to help her. And although Ashlyn told Thomas he was sleeping on the couch, I showed him to one of the spare bedrooms.

Sunday, we did nothing but lie around since the girls were hungover. We spent our entire day on the couch watching Top Gun like a hundred fucking times. Later that evening, Thomas’s phone finally rang, and it was that call he had wanted. He let it go to voicemail. His boyfriend apologized for whatever had happened and asked him to come home. He waited an hour after he received the call from his partner before he returned the call. He said he wanted him to sweat it out. And then he told us all bye and went home.

Monday morning came too fast, and it was back to everyday life. And for once, I didn’t mind it because I have Becca. But she seemed upset. She wouldn’t tell me exactly what it was, but I think it had to do with Ryder and Ashlyn. I think deep down she still thought her brother was going to come running back to her best friend, and she would welcome him with open arms. And once again, she was let down.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

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