Page 18 of Ghosted By Texas

“What was that about?”

I sighed and turned to Clea. Keeping my secrets buried was turning out to be harder than I thought, especially when I was constantly confronted by them. “They used to date.”

“Who used to date?”

“Austin and Jordan. They dated before he started seeing me back then.” It didn’t seem like much of a stretch to call what they had been doing dating, since he’d had more respect and love for her than he ever did for me. Clea’s eyes narrowed as her attention swung back and forth between me and where Jordan had retreated deeper into the club.

“Before or during?” She attempted to clarify.

“Maybe one day, when I’m at the bottom of a bottle of tequila, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“You don’t drink tequila because of that one night.”

“Exactly.”

The night Clea referenced had been two days after the Valentine’s Day of Doom. He never called, and even after what I saw through his living room window, if he had called and explained, I might have taken him back. Knowing how weak I was to even think that made it worse, and that was why the tequila came out and stayed out until the very last drop. A few hours later, the whole world started to spin, matching the way my life had flown apart. Clea had come to check on me and found me in a puddle of my own tequila-drenched vomit.

Alcohol poisoning was a bitch. Just the smell of tequila was enough to trigger my gag reflex since that night. All thoughts of tequila induced illness left as the motherfucker, who started everyone’s downfall, made a reappearance in an unexpected way. Clea tripped over something and would have faceplanted in the concrete if someone hadn’t caught her. I realized it was Houston, the man who should have been by her side at the frat house six years ago instead of Jeff, who caught my best friend before she could hit the ground.

When I looked down, it was to see that Clea had tripped over Cupid’s fucking bow and the little thingy that held the arrows. Clea thought she hated Cupid, but I had a hate-on for the guy too. He ruined everything. Absolutely everything. Then again, who was to say that the night wouldn’t have gone to shit the minute we left that party. The plan had been for Houston to take Clea home and for me to leave with Austin. We were going to head back to his apartment. I wondered if naked Jordan would have been there waiting for us to arrive.

I put my rogue thoughts on the backburner as some woman tried and failed to pick a fight with Clea, who was not about to take her shit. Luckily for my bestie, the better Mercer brother had her back the whole time, despite the bitch-a-saurus-rex being his ex-girlfriend.

“We work together,” the woman argued when Houston continued to take Clea’s side. I’d missed the majority of their conversation because I was on my own personal tailspin down memory lane. I shouldn’t have come to this damn opening night soiree.

“If you don’t want that to change, then I suggest you get your shit together and stop this.” Houston explained before glancing around for anyone who might help. “Someone get her out of here and make sure she doesn’t come back tonight.”

“Gladly!” Two voices chorused in the background. When I looked behind me, it was to see Austin and Jordan grinning at one another like they’d both just won the best “jinx” prize ever and it wouldn’t be a coke. Knowing their history, they’d probably celebrate their oneness with a quick lap dance or maybe just a hard fuck in the office later.

Once everyone dispersed, I was left standing there as the male bartender handed me a drink. I lifted the thing to my lips, not knowing what it was, and took a sip. The strong bitter taste didn’t even faze me the way it should have.

“Well, you took that like a champ,” the man teased. “I honestly didn’t think you could handle it, but it looked like you needed a strong drink, and I heard your friend say you don’t do tequila.”

“Thanks,” I muttered before slamming the rest of the glass back and sitting it on the bar. Jordan and Austin were standing not twenty feet from me, and they were together, watching as security removed the woman from the premises. I wanted to throw up whatever the nice bartender had made for me.

“Becs!” A man called out. I turned slowly, unfortunately in the direction where Austin’s presence couldn’t be ignored. Austin’s eyes met mine as Jordan’s turned away. Cory, Clea’s videographer for the night, and the man who had just called out to me, strolled up with a cocky grin on his face. “Is tonight my lucky night?”

“I don’t know, Cory, is it?”

“I’m just waiting on you to say yes to a date. That’s all I need. Give me one shot and you’ll have me walking down the aisle and worshipping at your feet for the rest of our lives.”

I laughed at the kid. He wasn’t really a kid, but he was a few years younger than my twenty-seven which was why I kept turning him down. He was sweet and could make me laugh, but flirting was where I drew the line.

“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think? From one date to marriage, just like that?”

“Nah! The way I figure it is that I’ve been in lust with you so long we might as well call it unrequited love at this point,” he said with complete confidence.

It just so happened I knew a little something about unrequited love, which was how I knew Cory was simply teasing me.

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay, new approach, what if I said that I could be content with a date and maybe a one-night stand?”

“Did you ask me to agree to a one-nighter with you? And you did it with a straight face too. That was good,” I teased.

“Either good or I’m serious,” he muttered.

“Cory, Cory, Cory,” I started to say.

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