Page 49 of Pour It On Me

“I texted Auston.” She took a deep breath and relaxed her stiff shoulders slightly.

“Why didn’t you text me?”

Simone looked down, gnawing at her lip. She bit it so hard that I was sure it hurt her. I wanted to pull it from between her teeth. “I wanted to handle it,” she whispered.

I looked between her and Emmy, noticing the stools had all been picked up and moved off to the side. The tables that were broken had been removed, and I imagined the floor where Emmy stood was cleared of the spilled liquor. What time did they get here?

“Hey,” Auston said, walking from the hallway. He looked less heated than he was the day before, and I was thankful.

“When did you get here?” I asked him. More so, why didn’t he tell me they were all coming earlier? Why did he want me to get here later?

He shrugged, looking at the time on his phone. “Couple hours ago.”

“All of you?” I narrowed my eyes.

Auston nodded, and I grew frustrated at how casual he was being. He jerked his head towards the office. “Let’s talk.”

Simone watched me as I followed behind Auston to our office. My heart was pounding before he had even closed the door, and I blinked away the red filter circling the corners of my vision.

“She took the blame for everything,” he said. It was like someone had punched me in the chest. The breath left me in a quick rush.

“What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “She said she was the reason you were in the closet together, and she hadn’t made sure the doors were locked. She also said the whole reason the man was here at all was because she’d pissed him off.”

The overwhelming need to defend her made my throat swell shut. Auston held up his finger, stopping me from saying anything. He laughed. “I know she isn’t to blame.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming in earlier? You told me ten.” The frustration was heavy in my voice, weighted with the betrayal. He was my best friend. He should’ve told me he was coming in earlier.

He shrugged again, and I clenched my hands into fists at my sides to stop me from smacking the half-smug look from his face. “She told me not to,” he said.

Auston was so casual about it, and when he tilted his head to the side, I groaned. “You should’ve told me.”

“Why?” For the first time since yesterday, when he had come to the bar to talk to the police, his own frustration showed. I braced myself for this to turn into one of those arguments that drew attention from anyone within shouting distance.

I furrowed my brow. That was a stupid question. “Because you tell me everything.”

“Do you tell me everything?” he asked. I glared at him.

He already knew the answer. I didn’t have to tell him I had been sneaking behind his back. “Okay, fine. This is different, though.”

“Why? Why is Simone different?”

I closed my eyes, irritated that my best friend knew exactly what buttons to push to get a reaction out of me. “Because I have feelings for her, and you know that. You should’ve told me she was coming early. I would’ve… I should’ve… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Logan, she wanted to talk to me.” His voice had turned serious. The sarcastic, pushy friend had disappeared, and the friend that had to deliver bad news was looking at me. It was the same look he gave me any time he told me we had to let someone go or someone quit. “Simone told me she wanted to put in her two weeks’ notice.”

“No, she didn’t. Revoke it.” I was frantic, like I needed to be in two places at once. I should’ve been out in the bar begging her to stay, but I needed to finish this conversation. She wasn’t going anywhere in the five minutes it was going to take, but it felt like that five minutes was going to be never-ending.

“She is thinking about moving back to Detroit.” He clapped his hand apologetically against my shoulder. “I can’t revoke it.”

I shook my head, refusing to accept it. “She’s not going anywhere. I’ll talk to her.” My voice was frantic, and Auston looked slightly amused. I rolled my eyes. “What?”

“You don’t just tolerate her.” He smirked knowingly.

I pressed my hand to my forehead, taking a deep breath and exhaling dramatically. “What do you want me to say, huh? That I was sure I loathed her the second she walked in that door, and now I’m pretty sure it was love at first sight? You want me to tell you that I think about her every fucking minute of every day and all the time in my dreams. How about if she leaves, I’m going to follow her?” My breathing came in quick spurts. “I like her, okay? I like her in a way that makes me physically sick to my stomach because she’s all I want, when all I wanted was to hate her.”

Auston laughed. “Don’t tell me that, dumbass. Tell her.”

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