Page 102 of Mostly Loathing You

She drops the brown bag with “Andre’s” scrawled across the side onto the coffee table, the smell of chicken penne wafting in the air. In any other situation, I would be yanking it open and inhaling it with little restraint, and, given how hungry I am, Ishouldbe doing that. However, the thought of eating anything makes me sick right now and all I want to do is hide away in my dark bedroom, but Sage is refusing to let that happen.

I am holding a plush throw blanket up around me, surrounding my face in a cocoon of warmth, but somehow I’m still shivering.

“He brought you lunch,” she says as she plops down on the couch next to me with her legs crossed.

I stare at the paper bag on the table like it’s going to sprout legs and a tail and walk away. Sage lets out a sigh as she turnsin her seat before grasping the edge of my blanket. I tighten my grip on the soft fabric, desperate to keep its warmth around me, but Sage tugs relentlessly until I finally have to release my hold. With a defeated huff, I watch as the blanket slides off of me and onto the floor.

“Happy?” I pin her with a glare as I wave my hand over the discarded blanket.

“Um, no?” She lets out a sigh, far more dramatic than the last. “Seriously, Hannah. What happened?”

My eyes are red and puffy, my eyelids heavy with the tears that have been flowing since I stepped into Liam’s office. Despite all of my efforts to keep it together, the floodgates open at even the slightest reminder of what I witnessed earlier. I wipe away the tears that fall freely down my cheeks, but nothing could stop the memories from coming back as if it were happening all over again.

“Hannah, please talk to me,” Sage pleads, causing my eyes to drift to hers.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

And with that, I tell her everything. I tell her everything from start to finish. How Liam ended up here the morning she found him sneaking out of my bedroom. I tell her about Liam showing up in New York. We talk about what happened at the rehearsal dinner last week and how he stood up for me to my mom, and the entire time Sage sits silently and listens. She nods when it’s called for and stays still when it doesn’t.

When I get to this morning, Sage winces as the words tumble from my mouth.

“…and I found him kissing her in his office.”

The conflict of interest I’ve been worried about is nowhere in Sage’s expression. They’re friends—sometimes I would evenventure to say better friends than Sage and I—but you would never know that by the way she’s looking at me right now.

“He’s an asshole,” she says matter-of-factly, standing from the couch before disappearing into the kitchen. The sound of glasses clanking and the fridge opening fills the room, then Sage reappears with two short glasses and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label in hand. She sets the glasses down on the coffee table before pouring two healthy pours, what I would assume to be at least two shots each.

The moment she hands me mine, I down it in one gulp, earning a wide-eyed gaze of shock from Sage. The liquor burns on contact, causing me to wince.

“Jesus, Hannah. Pace yourself—it’s noon, for fuck’s sake.”

Despite her words, Sage matches my actions as she throws back the glass in one gulp, her face contorting at the burn of the fiery liquid rolling down her throat.

I hold my glass out to her to request another, but she pauses before grabbing it from me.

“Fine, but pace yourself. I don’t feel like cleaning up vomit today.”

As she hands me the fresh glass of whisky, I do as she asks and don’t down it quickly. She pours herself another before closing the bottle and pushing it back on the table in front of us. We sit in silence for a moment before she turns to me again.

“So you’re clearly in love with him, right?”

I glare at her, but I don’t have it in me to deny it. Then again, I’m unsure why I would want to.

“Yeah,” I sigh, “I am.”

“Don’t sound so enthused.” Sage rolls her eyes.

“Would you be enthusiastic about it in this situation, Sage?”

She raises the glass of liquor to her lips and tips it back.The liquor appears to still have the same effect, causing her to grimace as she swallows before setting the empty glass down with a thud and saying, “Fair enough.”

I take a sip of mine, the contents no longer giving me the warmth or calm as before.

“So, what are you going to do?”

It’s then that I realize I’m not sure. The mere thought of forgiving Liam makes my stomach plummet, but the idea of not being with him anymore could quite possibly bring me to my knees.

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