Page 36 of Inevitable

I shot out of my seat, scrambling for my phone. “Uh..I'm so sorry, I'm really not feeling too hot. I'm gonna head home. Would you let Kit know that I'll text him later?” I rushed out the words and bolted from the restaurant, hearing Bash calling for me before I hit the door.

Once I shoved through the front doors, I took a huge gulp of air to quell the nausea threatening to swamp me and took off hurriedly down the street. I didn't even know where I was headed, but I just needed to be anywhere but there.

I needed to put as much space as I possibly could between me, Bash and his future bride, but I had a feeling that I could put an entire continent between us and it still wouldn't be far enough after that hell of a bombshell.

*****

I walked around and circled the entire campus before I made my way back to my apartment. My brain was in complete pandemonium and I needed the fresh air to help clear my head and calm my racing pulse. The nausea had abated a bit, but I was bouncing back and forth from being utterly devastated to intensely pissed off. The worst of it was that I didn't think I had any right to feel any type of way about what I had just learned. It was Bash's life and he deserved to find someone he loved enough to commit to for life. It wasn't my place to be angry or upset about it.

I had known Bash since he was a kid. I knew every wish and desire he had for his future, including having a family of his own. I just hadn't anticipated that day arriving much faster than I originally thought it would. If he was planning to propose by the end of the year, then would they get married right after graduation? Would they move in together soon? It made sense, and there was a tiny part of me that wondered why they weren't living together already, but I had been so deliriously relieved that Bash still lived alone that I didn't question it.

Why hadn't he talked to me about it? After the whole fucking mess with Ainsley from before the summer, I thought Bash and I had moved on from holding back and keeping secrets. This was a major decision in his life, and I would have thought he'd want to confide in me about it. I'm sure he knew I didn't like Ainsley, but still…my best friend should have told me he was thinking about getting engaged.

I had no idea how long I had been walking by the time I reached my apartment, but it was already dark and I didn't have the mental capacity to look at my phone, worried that I had been inundated with messages from Bash, Kit or both. In the end, it didn't really matter because there was someone waiting for me on the stoop leading into my building.

Bash had his head down and his elbows resting on his knees, one of them bouncing at warp speed. He was very clearly agitated, and I had a feeling Pandora's Box was about to be opened. As I came closer, he heard my footsteps and his head shot up, pinning me with a stare that was molten lava. I could feel the anger pouring off of him, and I gulped nervously. Bash and I had only ever had one real fight in our years long friendship, but I didn't think I had the emotional fortitude to prevent one tonight.

“Where the fuck have you been, M? Why didn't you answer your damn phone?” Bash stood up and rounded on me, leaving only about five feet between us. I breathed in deep, steadying my nerves.

“I'm sorry…I just needed a little air and took a walk to feel better. Ididn't feel my phone vibrate,” I mumbled, finding it hard to keep eye contact with him. He didn't seem to like that and took a step closer to me.

“M, you fucking ran out before I could even explain. Then you took off by yourself late at night, and I don't care if you stuck near campus, the city is still fucking dangerous! What were you thinking?” Bash's eyebrows were furrowed deep over his eyes and his hands gripped his hips tight.

It might have been the emotional strain of the evening, but his anger lit a fuse in me and I knew I was one poorly chosen word away from completely losing my shit. “I'm a big boy, Bash. I think I can take a walk by myself and be just fine. See? I even made it back safe and sound. Should I take a bow or give a little 'ta-da' for some extra flair?” I sassed him. I knew I was being ridiculous and bitchy, but I didn't have the patience to care.

“What the hell has gotten into you? I know what Ainsley said upset you…”

“Is it true?” I cut him off, finally looking him in the eyes.Fuck, that was a mistake…

Bash's breathtaking, jade green eyes pierced me down to my marrow, and my breath stuttered in my chest. I felt heat sweep across my body and it buzzed with awareness. It didn't matter how many dates I went on or how many men I tried to move on with…Bash had me by the fucking heartstrings and there was no being rid of him.

He silently stared at me for a few minutes before I asked him again, slowly and carefully. “Is. It. True?”

“It's not…entirely true,” he said grimacing.

“What the fuck does that even mean, Bash? Is it goddamn true or not?” I snapped, the tentative hold on my patience slipping even more.

“It means that no, I'm not planning to propose anytime soon, but…yes, our parents have talked about it and are pressing the issue,” he reluctantly shared, losing eye contact with me and tensing up his shoulders.

The nausea was back full force, and that well-known exhaustion hit me. I wasn't strong enough to deal with all this.

“So it is true. You're going to get engaged soon,” I stated flatly.

“No, it's not going to be soon,” Bash started, but once again I chimed in.

“But it will still happen, Bash! That's what you're telling me. That no matter what, you and Ainsley are end game! That's what this all fucking boils down to!” I shouted, unable to hold back anymore and completely at my wit's end for the night.

“It's not that simple, M!” Bash bit back, his voice raising along with mine.

“It doesn't matter if it's simple or not, it's just a fact!”

“Why are you so fucking angry with me?”

“Because I fucking hate it!” I screamed, feeling manic energy coursing through my body.

Bash gaped at me like he was scared to breathe a word or even move, like I was a bomb ticking and about to detonate.

“Don't you fucking get it, Bash? I hate her! I hate her so goddamn much and seeing you together makes me sick! It takes everything inside me not to puke my ever-loving guts out when I see you with her, and the idea that you're going to marry her makes me want to crawl in a hole and never come out!” the words tumbled out of me with agony lacing every syllable. I didn't think anything could've stopped the deluge of emotions rushing out of me at that moment.

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