Page 88 of It Should Have Been Me

“JP?”

“Save it for someone who cares.” He turns and storms out of the hotel room.

20. Scott

“IzzyB is finally married, Scotty,” Tommy says, his thick tongue causing his speech to slur. He finishes another shot and slams his glass on the bar. “I’m so happy I could cry.”

I groan tiredly. “Please don’t. I just want us to enjoy our drinks without getting emotional.”

“Fine. Then let’s go pick up some chicks. We’re the only ones in this bar and it’s depressing. I’m sure there are other places still open.”

“I’ll pass.” I pull the bottle of rum closer to me like it’s my date for the night. “Captain Morgan and I are just starting to get to know each other.”

I’m generally not a rum drinker. That shit is potent on a normal day, but I’m looking for a mind-numbing partner to spend the rest of my night with, and the Cap is delivering on his promise.

“Scotty, if an empty bottle of Captain Morgan is the only thing you take home tonight, then you have a very sad life, my friend.”

“Tell me about it. I think maybe?”

I’m cut off when my barstool is spun around. I don’t even see it coming. A fist comes at my face with so much force my head flies back on impact. It gets me in the left eye, and I have to blink a few times to adjust my vision.

“The fuck?” And that’s when I see who it is.

“Gah!” JP groans in pain, then covers his right hand with his left.

It becomes apparent then that he’s never been in a fight before. I’m also taller and broader than him, so the fact that he’s coming at me with another right can only mean one thing. She told him. It’s for that reason and that reason only that I take the next hit. This one is less forceful because his untrained hand can’t take the pressure of the contact.

Tommy grabs his arm and pulls him away from me. “Dude, what is wrong with you?”

“It’s alright, Tom.” I stand up, readying to have this confrontation man to man.

“You...you slept with her.” He’s exasperated. Just by the way his body shakes and his voice trembles, I can tell how devastated he is. “Where are your morals? Where are your values? What kind of man sleeps with another man’s woman?”

“Ah, Scotty.” And now I can hear the unconcealed disappointment in Tommy’s voice as well. “How could you do that?”

“Because he has no respect for other people’s relationships.” JP shoves me hard, but I stand my ground. “And then you sat there smiling at me, talking to me like nothing happened, you lying, manipulative snake! Both of you are so deceitful. Instead of being a man about it and telling me to my face that you hadsexwith my girlfriend...” He shoves me again. “...you decide to befriend me to humiliate me further. Did you get some kind of kick out of that?”

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