Page 71 of All The Happily Ever Afters

She looks up at me with complete disgust and opens her mouth to say something. But two drunk girls come into the room and one doesn’t see Khloe clutching her nose.

She tumbles right over her and they fall into a pile on the floor. There’s yelling and pushing, and the other drunk girl is just staring wide-eyed.

I have no intention of staying to see the end of this. I head to the ballroom where everyone else has been hanging out. The music gets louder as I approach, and the lights are flickering in beat with the music.

I look all over, and each second that passes my heart slams harder in my chest.

He had to have heard. For a fleeting second I think maybe he was bored and is making out with someone in a corner. But I push those thoughts aside.

There’s a reason I feel the way I do about him. The way he held me all those years ago did something to me. I know it did. Tears prick my eyes and they make me feel weak. I am not going to cry. I am going to find him, and I’m going to beat his ass for leaving me like that.

I nod my head as I leave the ballroom and see Levi by the door. I pick up my pace to ask him if he’s seen Ryker, but I slow down when I get close and see his expression.

He looks pissed. I come to a halt as he walks toward me.

“What happened?” His voice is hard, and it’s a demand. I don’t like it. I don’t like being talked to that way. I’m cool with Levi, but he better watch it.

“I don’t like the way you’re talking to me, and where’s Ryker?” I say coolly.

Levi’s brow scrunches, and his hard features soften.

“He took off.”

My heart plummets, and my throat closes. He left me again. That fucking bastard. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying.

“What happened?” he asks again.

“Khloe’s a bitch. That’s what happened.”

Levi stares at me for a second before moving aside. “He just left, so maybe you can catch him.”

A small bit of hope blooms in my chest. I race to the door and open it just in time to see Ryker on his bike taking off. I call out for him, but he doesn’t hear.

I stand in the open doorway and watch him grow smaller in the distance.

Motherfucker. I’m so angry and hurt and upset.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself and grip the door harder so I don’t slam it over and over again like I want to out of frustration.

I’m just going to leave. I don’t need this shit right now.

If he really wanted me, he knows where to find me, I think as I step outside and walk to the garage. But then I stop cold in my tracks and remember that Khloe drove. Looks like I’m walking home.

I unzip my clutch to make sure I have my keycard to the dorm. I do, but I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want to deal with her. For all I know she called the cops on me. It sounds like something she’d do.

I zip it shut and just start walking. I'll figure something out on the way.

I walk down the long, winding driveway and onto a busier road with street lights. It’s a little chilly, but still warmconsidering the time of year. There’s a permanent frown on my face that I just can’t stop making. I hate that this part of the road is empty, but farther down there are more houses and a development. I try to walk quickly, but I don’t want to. I don’t have the energy, and I’m sure as hell not in a race to get home.

I didn’t really want to go to that party anyway. I just wanted to see him, and I was too scared to go to the shop. I waited for him to come to me, and I can do that again.

I wrap my arms around my chest and rub my forearms to heat them up.

That’s not going to happen. I already know it. He left me before, and now he’s doing it all over again. If I want to see him, I’m going to have to go to him.

How pathetic. I feel so damn pathetic. I’m like some lovesick child who can’t get over her crush who’s probably not even into me.

My eyes go glassy and I don’t care. The hot tears run down my face and I angrily wipe them away.

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