Page 38 of Famous Last Words
“But I know we need to,” she continues.
I fling my arm over my eyes.Fuck me.
“Can we please just go back to how things were when we hated each other?—”
“I never hated?—”
She interjects, “—before I made a drunken fool of myself and tried to kiss you?”
Wait. What? I sit bolt upright.
“I didn’t realize I wasthatdrunk. And I have no idea what I was even thinking.” She huffs dramatically. “I’m so embarrassed, Robbie.”
She thinksshetried to kissme? She doesn’t remember. I’m the fool who tried to kiss her. A stupid decision I regret more than anything because, well, firstly, she was drunk, and I’ve never been the kind of guy to take advantage of any woman under the influence. But also, because she’s Fran fucking Keller, the girl from high school who made me shit myself. The woman who now likes having her ass spanked and her hair pulled.Chrissake.
“Robbie?” Fran’s voice breaks through my thoughts, more than a little panicked. “Are you still there?”
“Uh, yeah.” I look around the hotel room for what, I have no idea. “Um, yeah. Whatever.”
“Whatever?” Fran scoffs through the phone. “That’s it?”
I scratch at a persistent itch at the back of my neck, but no matter what, it won’t subside. A phantom itch. Probably guilt. “Um, I mean, what, what do youwantme to say?” I offer a forced laugh. “I’m Robbie Mason. You think you’re the first drunk chick to try and kiss me?” Another forced laugh.
For the record, I’m going to hell.
“Well, okay then,” Fran finally says. “I just wanted to make sure things wouldn’t be awkward between us, but it’s clear to see you’re back to your d-bag self, so good.” Before I can say anything, she continues, “Bye.”
And with that, she’s gone.
My shoulders sag under the weight of resignation… or regret, I’m not quite sure. And as I stare at the screen, tongue pressed against the inside of my cheek, I can’t help but wonder what the hell just happened.
Fran thinks she tried to kiss me. She thinks I turned her down. This is a good thing.
Heaving a sigh, I fall back against my pillows still staring at my phone.
Who the fuck am I trying to kid? If this is a good thing, then why do I feel so shitty?
CHAPTER 17
FRAN
Ihaven’t heard from Robbie since our awkward phone call. Not even one arrogant or bossy message. It’s almost like we’ve bypassed the hating each other and gone straight back to forgetting the other existed. And, I’m not saying this isn’t what I was hoping for—anything is better than having to spend every minute of my day dwelling over that almost-kiss—but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a tiny and very confused part of me that didn’t wonder what he might be up to… every single waking moment of my day.
So while I’ve spent my daysnotthinking about Robbie Mason (yeah, right), I have been forced to deal with the aftermath of the phone call between Robbie and Tadd.
My laptop chimes with a new Teams notification, and I click on the flashing icon, my skin crawling immediately. Speak of the devil.
Tadd: Is it serious?
I throw my head back, stifling a groan. It’s been like this non-stop.I’ve successfully managed to ignore his calls and text messages, but at work, he’s a lot harder to avoid. I’m forced to pass his office every time I come and go, and he’s now resorted to using Teams because he knows I don’t have the access level to block him.
Me: I’ve already told you, it’s none of your business.
Tadd: How long has it been going on?
Me: Again, it has nothing to do with you.
Tadd: You know he’s a drug addict, right?
