Page 80 of Revived

I shake my head as the sting of tears builds behind my eyes. “I’ve been better.”

“Life just sucks sometimes,” she assures me, soothingly rubbing my hands with hers as tears build in her eyes.

“Yeah. It does,” I choke out, letting my own tears come. Jess pulls me into her arms and Pfeiffer sits on the other side of me. “Why are you crying, Jess? Are you crying for me?”

“Uh… yeah. I just know how badly a broken heart feels.” Pfeiffer eyes Jess across the couch and I can’t help but feel like there’s something else going on.

“You know what? I think we just need to all drown our sorrows in food tonight. So… Rach? Are you ready to consume mass quantities of carbs and calories and not give two fucks about it?” Jess holds her hand up like we’re pledging a sorority or something.

I can’t help but chuckle. “Sure.”

“Perfect. Piper, what’s the E.T.A. on the pizza?”

“Five minutes,” she replies, mock-saluting her. As they both rise, I can’t help but smile for the first time in days. Pfeiffer was right. I needed this.

“Okay, so I’m pretty sure you’ve filled Piper in on all the details, but I need to know what the hell happened,” Jess asks around a mouthful of food.

Reaching for my Coke, I take a sip and then brace myself to retell the story. “Well, everything was fine until we had sex. It was like something happened that night. He was so sure it was what he wanted, but then the next day, he seemed off. I tried to chalk it up to him probably feeling all sorts of things having finally slept with another woman who wasn’t Hannah, you know?” Jess and Pfeiffer both nod. “But then he just became increasingly more distant as the week went on. It’s hard not to take that personally.”

Jess shakes her head and then finishes chewing her bite. “No, don’t play that game. This is not your fault. You have been nothing but amazing to that man and his son.”

“I know. But when Hannah’s parents came, that’s when the shit hit the fan.” I spend the next several minutes recounting our fight in the garage, giving the cliff notes version of the argument, even though I remember word for word the declarations that truly stung.

“I’m sorry, Rachel. I think he’s just scared.” Pfeiffer leans forward in her chair, reaching for my hand.

“I do too. But I can’t make that go away for him.”

Jess bobs her head in agreement before becoming emotional again. “Exactly. He has to see the light. And he needs to be honest about what and who he wants… but sometimes being honest about things is hard.”

“Jess, is there something you need to talk about? I feel like you’re being cryptic as hell.” Pfeiffer shoots her a discerning look like she knows exactly what is on Jess’s mind. I’ve been so consumed with my drama with Luke that apparently I’m in the dark about Jess’s romantic developments. She closes her eyes before popping them open again, and as her lips move to speak, Cash enters the house before she can say anything.

“Hey, girls. How’s it going?” His eyes light up when he sees Pfeiffer in her chair, walking over like a string is pulling him towards her, taking her face in his hands before he kisses her, leaving her breathless.

“See! That right there is a man that is not afraid of commitment!” Jess declares.

“Don’t worry, ladies. Before this woman here, that’s exactly what I feared. But she changed all that,” he says while holding her cheeks in his palms.

“Ugh. I love you two, you know that. But if you keep flaunting your love around me right now, I’ll be forced to stay in my room until further notice.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry, Rach.” Cash stands up and then comes over to me, pulling me up to give me a hug. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna make him sorry he ever hurt you.”

“Oh, yeah?” I chuckle. “How?”

“Don’t worry about that.” He winks. “Just know some tough love is in order for my good friend, Luke.”

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