Page 18 of Not Over You

And since God hates me, that’s the exact moment the door opens, and Travis walks in. I break the kiss and turn my head to glance at Travis, who takes in the scene with a frown on his face.

I look down at the way we’re positioned. Sam is between my legs, and I have my arms circling his neck, holding him close to my body. It looks a lot more scandalous than it is, but part of me wants to laugh a bit. I’m not doing anything wrong. In fact, I’m just giving him a taste of his own medicine. Not that he cares, he has hot to trot Sydney. Nonetheless, I scramble away from Sam and let him help me up so we can face Travis together.

TRAVIS

I blink a few times after walking in on Nina rolling around with some guy on the floor. It was a shock considering she was alone when I left. A quick survey of the floor showed furniture being put together, with pieces of Styrofoam and cardboard littering the living room floor.

Briefly, I wonder why she needed to call someone to come help her. Then I remembered that I left her here all alone for Sydney. That crazy girl ruins everything. I ran her off and felt guilty as hell leaving Nina here, but as it turns out, I was still too late. Leaving with Sydney all but pushed Nina into some other man’s arms.

Stepping around them and all the furniture pieces on the floor, I head to my room.

“Just gotta change my shirt, and then I’ll be out of your way,” I call, trying to keep my voice monotone, even though I feel like yelling. As soon as I enter my bedroom and close the door, I sigh.

My nose wrinkles when I catch a whiff of Sydney’s perfume on it. I all but rip the stupid shirt off and tug on a clean one.

Part of me wants to leave right away, get out of here as fast as I can. I don’t need to be here while they’re flirting... or worse. I can’t even think of Nina doing that without wanting to smash that guy’s head in.

The other part wants to stay and make sure they don’t do anything. I already know he’s not good enough for her, not even if he does wear polos and khakis. Who wants a guy that dresses like that to come and build furniture with you?

Taking my phone out, I go with my first choice and leave. Dialing Grady’s number, he answers on the second ring.

“Hey, buddy, Nina driving you crazy yet?”

“Um,” I pause, “well, she has company over, and I don’t want to intrude on them. Do you maybe want to go grab a drink together?”

“Yeah, man,” Grady exclaims, “I’ll come and pick you up.” That’s my man, always willing to help a brother out.

Hanging up, I listen through the bedroom door. God help me if I see them on the floor again… without thought, I clench my hand into a fist.

Nina’s sweet voice filters in through the closed door, “I’m going to make us a snack.”

Thank fuck. I take that opportunity to rush from my room and outside, waving at them without even looking. Luckily, I don’t catch a glimpse of the lovebirds, though I do hear them banging pots and pans around the kitchen. Sighing in relief, I head outside to wait for Grady. When he pulls up ten minutes later, I climb into his car like there is a hoard of zombies after me.

“Where to, big guy?” he asks.

“I don’t know, man, just head to the bar.”

“Lush on this fine Saturday.”

“It’s six o’clock, or after now, man, give me a break.”

“So, Sydney’s here, huh?” He says with a little smirk.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry she just showed up at your house.”

“It’s okay, I know she’s unhinged. She seemed a little manic to me though.”

“Yeah, she was in one of her states. She tried to molest me in front of Nina,” I tell him, just as he pulls in front of a bar called Lily’s.

“I bet Nina loved that,” he lets out a chuckle. We walk into the bar and find a seat. It’s a small place, and there aren’t many people inside since it’s still early. It’s a cozy place, with wooden walls and bear heads mounted to them. It’s set up like a mountain cabin, which is out of place here, but it works. One wall has license plates from every state decorating it from floor to ceiling.

“Yeah, she did not,” I say, remembering the look on her face as we left. “She had a guy over when you picked me up. It was weird because she didn’t mention she was seeing someone.”

“That’s interesting,” Grady ponders “she doesn’t really date. Someone messed her up pretty bad. She never told me about it, but she was ecstatically happy one month, and the month after that, she wouldn’t get out of bed. It was actually right around the time you left. She stayed in bed for days crying.”

“Really? She was that bummed out?” My brain is spinning, what is he talking about?

“Yeah, maybe she was sad you left,” Grady says, jabbing me with an elbow. He’s joking, but it hits me hard as my mind goes into overdrive. She missed me? Did I mishear her that night? No way, the words rattled around in my brain for weeks. There is no way she didn’t say them. There must have been someone else.

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