Page 124 of Faking with Benefits

“Hi, guys. What’s going on out here?”

I turn and see Josh’s brother Rob striding towards us, his expensive suit rumpled. Immediately, Amy lets me go, standing back so she’s a respectable distance away from me. “Hi, Rob,” she coos. “I was just chatting with Luke, here.”

Robert looks at me, his eyes questioning, and I sigh. “Amy was just—” telling me I’m a gullible idiot that will die alone. “Berating me on my tie choice.” I say stupidly.

Rob laughs. “Damn. You never can get away from that, then?” He clears his throat. “Listen, mate, I just saw your girl come through here. She looked pretty upset. I didn’t want to tell Josh, we’re gonna need him in a few minutes for the toasts, so—”

My heart drops. “Upset how?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “She was like, almost crying. I tried to talk to her, but she ran off.”

“Sounds like she drank a bit too much of our champagne.” Amy pats my arm. “Go look after your date, Luke. I’ll see you later. Enjoy the rest of the wedding.”

I nod jerkily, and she drags Rob back towards the party, giving me one last firm look over her shoulder.

As I watch her back disappear, my phone buzzes with a notification. Swallowing hard, I hook it out of my pocket. I have messages from Layla and Zack. I check Layla’s first.

LAYLA: I’m going home. Give my congrats to the bride.

I stare at the screen. What? Why the Hell would she be going home? Did something happen? Flipping back to my texts, I scan through Zack’s messages.

ZACK: check Laylas ok

Alarm blooms in my stomach. I type out a response.

LUKE: What happened?

ZACK: we fcked

ZACK: then i told her it was over

ZACK: im done being her tutor or whatever

ZACK: she was mad

ZACK: and sad

I squint at the messages for a few seconds. Up until now, Zack had been doing surprisingly well. He usually really struggles on the anniversary of Emily’s death, but I thought maybe the wedding was providing him with a good distraction.

I guess not. It looks like the shit has finally hit the fan. I tap the phone icon to ring him, and he declines the call.

Swearing, I go back to our text thread.

LUKE: You slept with her, then dumped her?

LUKE: Why on Earth would you do that?

ZACK: didnt dump her, wasnt dating her

ZACK: go talk to her

ZACK: im going out

LUKE: No. What is wrong with you? Come back and apologise to her.

He doesn’t respond. I try to call him again, but the low beep on the other end of the line tells me he’s turned his phone off.

Cursing, I slip the phone back into my pocket and head towards the lobby lifts. I guess I’ll have to sort this out myself.

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