Page 6 of Breathless With Her

“If you want water, that’s good. If you want something else, we’ll make sure we take care of you. We won’t let you drive home drunk.”

“Is that a come-on? Because I’m married.” Her eyes widened and then filled with tears. I cursed under my breath.

“It wasn’t a come-on, Erin. I’ll call your sister, or I’ll get you home. Don’t worry, I’m not a stranger. And I’m not going to take advantage of you. Promise.”

“Promises mean shit, apparently,” she said, shaking her head. “He cheated on me. He had his cock in the head cheerleader.”

“The current head cheerleader?” I asked, a little worried.

She shook her head, taking a big gulp from a glass of water the bartender slid over. I nodded in thanks, and she did the same, even though she was still drinking. “No, the head cheerleader from back when I was in high school. I didn’t even know that stuff happened at reunions.”

“Well, people make fun of them for a reason. A lot of the old shit and resentment you thought you were over usually comes back to bite you in the ass at those things. Probably why I never went to mine.”

“Well, you were lucky. Nicholas wanted to go to ours. And I thought it was because he was just tired and waiting for the next job to start and wanted to show the world that he was doing okay. But we really weren’t. I mean, my work…that’s fine. I own a cake-decorating business, and it’s doing great. I do well on my own. Not that Nicholas has ever truly thought that. He thinks it’s just a little side project. But that so-called side project paid for our mortgage. While he was always waiting for the next big thing. To sell the biggest and best property. He’s still waiting for his next realtor job to pop up. Apparently, other things were popping up just fine, though. In the cheerleader.”

I held back a grin at that, loving the way she was rambling. Yeah, the Rose sisters had been hilarious back in the day, and I liked getting to know them. But now Jennifer was married and not a Rose anymore. Erin was apparently married, as well—also not a Rose.

I wasn’t quite sure what her last name was now. “Nicholas—Nicky—Taborn?” I asked, holding back another smile as she narrowed her eyes again.

“He hated being called Nicky.”

“So you’re going to call him Nicky now?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve known him since I was ten. We were middle school crushes and high school sweethearts and a college couple, and then we were married. Everything. Married. And he cheated on me. I don’t know if tonight was the first night either. Maybe this has been a long-going thing. He was doing coke, too,” she whispered. “I think it was coke. The white powder you put in lines. He was sniffing it right off her boob. Like, what the hell?” She whispered the last part, and I froze, trying to picture exactly what she had seen while also not wanting to. “Jesus Christ,” I muttered.

“Exactly. Jesus Christ.”

“Do you want me to get you another drink? Because this sounds like you’re going to need another drink.”

“I shouldn’t.”

“I’ll get you home, Erin.”

“What about my car? I just don’t know,” she whispered.

“I’ll take care of you. You want to drink for the night? You do that. You want to go home? You can do that, too. You want to go back and beat the shit out of your sorry excuse for a husband? We can also do that.”

“No, I really don’t want to go back there.” She looked down at her dress and picked at a sequin. “They made us dress up in fashion for a decade that we weren’t even in school for. I look ridiculous.” She looked over her shoulder and winced. “Yeah, coming in here probably wasn’t the greatest idea, considering what I look like right now.”

“You look just fine, Erin,” I said softly. I really wasn’t hitting on her, but she looked so broken. So lost. And I had a tendency to want to help when I saw those things. I probably shouldn’t, not when this wasn’t my problem. But she had been the one to sit down next to me on that barstool. We had a connection, albeit one from long ago that wasn’t actually between us. But I couldn’t just leave her alone.

So, when she ordered a beer to follow her previous tequila shots, I ordered a glass of water for myself and sat there as she spoke. I just tried to let her know that she wasn’t alone, even if I didn’t know if that was true. Because I didn’t know Erin Rose, no…ErinTabornanymore.

I hadn’t really known her back in the day either. No matter, I hated that she was going through this.

I held back a wince as I thought about my own family and how much cheating could fuck everything up. Because as soon as someone cheated, trust was broken, and everything got messed up. Until someone left or drank themselves to death.

And though Erin had only had two shots and was nursing a single beer while chugging water, I knew it wasn’t the same. It couldn’t be the same as what I had seen. What I’d had to shield my brothers and sisters from.

But, still, seeing just a little bit of what had basically been my life while growing up wasn’t easy. I didn’t want Erin to go through this. Even if I didn’t know her well, I didn’t want her to go through it.

So, when she finished her beer and went to pay, I shook my head and handed over my credit card.

“I got this.”

“You shouldn’t. I should just call an Uber or something. I don’t know about my car.” She was muttering to herself, and I had a feeling she either didn’t drink often, or she had a low tolerance. I could see the glassiness in her eyes, and it wasn’t just from the crying. Because she hadn’t cried. She’d been really good about not doing that. When the dam broke…? I wasn’t sure I wanted to be there for that. But I could at least send her on her way and make sure she was okay. I hoped.

“I’ll pay for this since it looks like you need it. And then I’ll get you home.”

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