Page 4 of Destroyed

"And who the fuck is Amy?" I ask before Sebastian can respond.

"Xavier is going to be okay. His head's a little fucked up right now, but I don't think it's permanent. I mean, he's always a little fucked up," Sebastian chuckles to himself like this is all a funny joke.

"Why are you laughing right now?" I ask.

"Oh, I had asked if he remembered the Jizz incident and now I can't stop thinking about it."

I roll my eyes. Riley slaps her new husband on the arm. Even though we threw everyone for a loop the night of their wedding, Riley and Sebastian have been steadfast in waiting around thehospital with me in the days since the accident. I had managed to get pulled out of Xavier's crushed car relatively undamaged, but I still remember how fucking scary it was that Xavier wouldn't wake up. By the time we were admitted and I was allowed to hear more about his condition, they'd already determined that he had some swelling in his brain due to the accident and would need to be in a medically induced coma. So I've just been stuck in this limbo, waiting to see what would happen to him.

Waiting around isnotsomething I enjoy doing.

"So, he has amnesia?" I ask Sebastian. “And he is worried about Amy?"

"Amnesia, yes. Amy, yes and no," he starts, then looks around him for a chair. "Sit?" he asks us.

"I'll stand," I say.

He nods. "Amy is a girl from his past. She was a big part of his life before, and after losing her, he chose not to talk or think about her anymore."

"Well, how did he lose her?" I ask, assuming there was a nasty breakup.

"She died."

Riley audibly gasps and stands back up from where she'd sat next to Sebastian. "How?" she asks.

"Car accident," Sebastian says grimly. "Amy was Xavier's fiance..." His voice trails off.

?This is too much. I have too many feelings about all of this. I thought it would be all celebrations when he woke up, that we'd talk about how lucky we were to be alive and try to figure out who the hell would hit and run on us. But instead, I'm trapped in this twilight zone where Sebastian is telling me the man I've been fucking for months now was previously planning to marry another woman. A woman who died.

"I need a fucking drink," I say to no one in particular.

Sebastian nods and looks at Riley. "Little Mouse," he says. “Why don't you take Corrine out for a drink? I'll stay here and wait for Xavier to wake up."

Riley looks at me. "Is that okay?"

I nod. What else am I supposed to do? Xavier wanted nothing to do with me. That was evident. And I just don't understand how this fiance thing never came up. Not that I've been an open book, but we've talked about our views on relationships and commitment in general. I thought we both liked keeping things light and casual.

Truthfully, I also was getting to the point where I wanted to talk with him about possibly changing and beinglesscasual. But now...

I realize I've been staring off into space while Riley waits for my response. I nod, and we walk away from Xavier's room, down the long hallway and out of the hospital. We decide to go to the bar close to our place. Of course, it is no longerourplace since Riley moved in officially with Sebastian, but we still refer to it as "ours."

The cab ride is silent while we both process what we just learned. I let Riley pay the driver, and we seek out a table in the back of the bar.

"A gin martini, a shot of whiskey, and an order of fries," I say to the waitress once we are seated in our usual low-top booth.

"Anything else?" she asks.

"Whatever she's having," I say, nodding to Riley. "That was just my order."

"Gin and tonic," Riley says. "Please." She smiles at the waitress politely.

"It wouldn't kill you to be nice to her," Riley half whispers as the girl walks away.

"Please," I say, "I've had two weeks from hell. I deserve to be a bitch."

"You're right," Riley says. "Want to talk about it?"

My sister is so nice. She's always caring, polite, and committed. It's confusing that we're related sometimes. I sigh. "I was just feeling like maybe I wanted something more for us. For me and Xavier, I mean." I look up at her and she gives me sad eyes.

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