Page 114 of Necessary Roughness
Logan hesitated, and it broke my heart.
“I don’t know…” He took a step back from the truck and looked around as if he could find the words floating in the air nearby. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we need to bear down and focus, especially with the conference championship next week. Once that’s over…”
He trailed off, leaving that word hanging in the air.Over. It felt too real.
“Roman?” I asked.
Logan hesitated again. Another heartbreak.
“He doesn’t know how he feels,” Logan said slowly. “We’ve had a shitty day, capping off a shitty week.”
I patted Bryson’s arm, and he put the truck into gear and drove away. I didn’t know if Logan watched me go, because I closedmy eyes and didn’t open them again until we arrived at my apartment.
The key still worked on the door, which kind of surprised me. Everything was exactly as I had left it, although the apartment held the scent of a cheap candle. Jayden was tidying up in my room, while Morgan stood nearby with her arms crossed in obvious disapproval.
“Don’t say a fucking word,” I snapped at her.
The shocked expression on her face was satisfying, and she quickly went into her room and slammed the door behind her.
Jayden immediately wrapped me in a tight hug. “Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
The tears began flowing all over again as he held me. “You guys were right. I bit off more than I could chew.”
“As much as I like hearing that I’m right,” Jayden said, “it doesn’t matter right now. Let’s get you unpacked, then we can talk all about it.”
“I can’t believe Morgan let you in,” I said.
“We had to bribe her,” Bryson muttered.
“Really? With what?”
“With a gift card to Starbucks,” Jayden said. “That girl isbasic.”
I let out a small laugh. “I think I broke up with my boyfriends.”
“I know, sweetie. We’ve all been there.”
“But youhaven’t,” I insisted. “This is three times as bad as any regular breakup.”
Both of them gave a start.
“Wait a minute,” Bryson said. “Threetimes as bad?”
“Did their roommate finally decide he wanted a slice of Sloane Pie?” Jayden asked. “Forget unpacking. You need to tell us all about thisright freaking now.”
Rather than go back to their place, we stayed there and I caught them up to speed on how Roman had entered the picture. Bryson ran out to pick up beer and Thai food, and we sat on the couch and watched a random romantic comedy on Netflix.
“This is so much better thanDie Hard,” Jayden said. “I don’t know why the straights love that movie so much.”
I drank until the pain went away, then allowed the twins to tuck me into bed. The last thing I remembered was Jayden making a joke about how I was like a drunk toddler. When I woke up the next morning, I found Jayden asleep on the couch.
That’s how you knew who your friends were. They took care of you without you needing to ask. They certainly didn’t blame you for their own failures.
Granted, I was the one who had decided to move out of the house. But I had expected the guys to protest more, to insist I stay. I certainly hadn’t expected Knox to get so angry about it, especially with regards to his parents.
I didn’t feelgreatthe next day, but I felt good enough to study. I cruised through my Physics practice exams thanks to all of Roman’s help. I actually understood the material now, rather than just memorizing answers without knowingwhythey were correct. Then I read Logan’s notes on my Creative Writing paper. Half his notes were helpful, and the other half were filthy jokes. He also drew at least a dozen dicks in the margins in thick red ink. It made me laugh, but then I started crying again. It reminded me of what I had lost.
None of them had texted me since yesterday. Their silence was deafening.
