Page 87 of The Grump I Loathe
Just focus on enjoying your giant bed and fluffy pillows and the complimentary snacks in the mini-fridge,I wrote.
Oh my gawd!!!!!Alannah wrote.They have little cans of Pringles in the cupboard!
Go wild.
A devil emoji.I am. Night Eddie!
Night Lana.
I flipped my phone over, heart clenching. At least someone I cared about was happy right now.
There was a knock at the door, and I dragged myself into a sitting position, frowning at the floor as I waited to see if my head would stop spinning. Leigh would have let herself in, so that meant…more room service? When I felt stable enough to walk, I got to my feet to answer it.
“Cassie?” I said, surprise momentarily washing away the dread inside me. “What are you doing here?”
She gave me a sad smile before she latched onto me, squeezing hard. “Leigh messaged me. He’s a capitalDdick,” she said, “and you deserve so much better!”
“Cass,” I grunted. “I need the blood to get to my brain.”
“Now more than ever,” Leigh agreed, running up behind her and shoving through the door. Her arms were laden with junk food. “Sorry. She beat me here.”
Noah came up behind her, carrying what must have been two dozen little packages of M&M’s.
“What did you two do, raid a vending machine?” I asked.
“We raidedthreevending machines,” Noah said, ducking into the room.
Leigh dumped their spoils onto her bed. “I didn’t know what you would be in the mood for. I mean, these occasions usually call for ice cream, but room service was being stingy on the portion size, so we’ve covered the gamut of other options. Salty. Sweet.”
“Savory,” Noah said, holding up a pack of pork rinds. He shrugged. “This is my first time being invited to…” He trailed off, giving me a shrug.
“A breakup slumber party?” I said.
Noah scratched at the back of his head. “Yeah. I didn’t even know there was anything going on. So either I’m the most oblivious person in the world or?—”
“No,” I interrupted softly. “Connor wanted it that way. With the no-dating policy in place, he didn’t want to look like a hypocrite.”
Noah’s lips pulled into a thin line. “Right. Even though he is.”
I sighed, hugging my arms to my chest. “You guys didn’t have to do all this.”
“Sure we did,” Noah said. “You’ve done so much for us. Brightening up the office. Getting everyone together outside of work. It’s finally starting to feel like a family. So why wouldn’t we be here for you?”
I tried not to tear up. “Don’t make me cry. It hurts my head.”
“Sorry,” Noah said sheepishly.
I nudged him. “This is all really sweet. But, honestly, I don’t think I have it in me to rally.” If I’d learned anything from Alannah this weekend, it was that sometimes it was better to sit with the sad feelings. Sometimes you needed to.
“That’s okay,” Cassie said. “We don’t expect you to be the life of the party tonight.”
Leigh drummed her fingers against her lips, looking apologetic.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I feel so guilty. I told you to go for it, and the next day we’re in urgent care.” She shook her head. “I never should have encouraged you.”
“Hey,” I said, catching her hand. “That’s not your fault. This breakup was a long time coming. I was just too stubborn to see that.”
