Page 53 of Love Without Demands

“Bye, Dwight.”

As soon as he walked out, I closed the door behind him and leaned my back against it, waiting for the tears to come.

But they didn’t.

I wasn’t sure why. Maybe I was in shock that my relationship of over two years was over. Or maybe I was a bit relieved that I’d dodged a bullet. Nonetheless, once I was sure I wouldn’t be a blubbering mess, I slipped the room’s key card into the pocket of my robe and went across the hall to the guys’ room.

Before I could even knock, the door opened, and I was yanked inside and directly into Nicolette and Gianna’s arms.

“Oh, honey. We heard,” Nic cooed.I knew these bitches weren’t getting ice.“I’m so sorry.”

“Me too,” Gianna sniffled. “Just let it all out. We’re here for you.”

I laughed and gently pushed them away. “I’m okay. I promise.”

Two sets of green eyes peered expectantly at me like I was going to collapse into a heap at any moment. “You’re sure?” Nicolette asked, and I nodded. “How do you feel?”

“Would I sound like a total bitch if I said I feel a little relieved and a lot hungry?”

“Not at all,” Artie assured me, rising and kissing the top of my head. “You’ve been going through a lot, so I think it’s normal to feel relieved that all that stress is off your shoulders.”

“I say we go get the lady some greasy food,” Cruz suggested from his perch on the chair in the corner.

“I’m ordering tater twats in honor of Lehra finally getting rid of that twat she was engaged to,” Artie announced, making us all laugh.

After a long dinner at a dive bar, where we’d gorged on bacon-cheese tatertwatsandburgers, we all settled into the large hot tub on the second floor of the hotel with plastic glasses of wine.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Rub mama’s tootsies,” Gianna groaned, holding her feet over one of the lower jets.

We talked and drank for a while, with Cruz getting out to refill our glasses twice from the bottles we’d left on the table. I tried not to stare at the droplets of water dripping down a perfect set of abs every time he rose.

I was feeling so relaxed and grateful as I glanced around at my friends, Artie and Nic across from me, Gianna on my right, and Cruz on my left.

“I just wanted to say thank you for coming this weekend, and I’m so sorry I wasted your time.”

“You didn’t waste our time,” Nicolette insisted. “Why would you say that?”

“Because you went above and beyond for me on all this wedding stuff, and then I called it off.”

Artie rolled his eyes. “Honey, we’re glad you broke up with Dwight. Nic and I never liked him.”

“Really? You never said anything.”

“We didn’t want to mess up our friendship by badmouthing your boyfriend,” Nicolette said quietly.

Artie added, “The few times we met him, we both thought he was a bit of a pompous douche.” He lightly splashed water at me. “Not to mention the sex stuff.”

“Artie!” I scolded, splashing him back.

“Ooh, what sex stuff?” Gianna asked. “Did he have a teeny wienie?”

I giggled and took a sip. “No, his wienie was… fine, I guess. And can we please talk about something besides my sex life?”

“Baby doll, that was no sex life. You had a better relationship with the shower head.”

“You can stop talking now,” I warned as everyone laughed.

“It wasn’t the actual peen. He just didn’t know how to use it,” Artie kindly informed everyone. “His motto was good guys finish first.”

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