CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JOSH

I’m sitting at the bar when Kim and her friends march out the door. Good riddance. At least she won’t be making a fool out of me again.

I thought she was different, but she’s like all the rest, just wanting me for my money. I throw back the rest of my scotch. Need to go home and get shitfaced.

When I stand, Dillon grabs my arm. Brent is standing next to him.

“You’re an idiot,” Dillon says. “Here I always thought you were pretty smart. Guess I was wrong.

He’s so right. Letting a woman get the best of me should never have happened. I wrench my arm out of his grasp and stomp away. I don’t want to hear anything more from anybody.

“Josh, we should talk,” Brent says.

“I don’t want to. I’m out of here.”

Everyone gets out of my way as I make my way to the exit. This started out being such a great night, then an instant later, nightmare. I found a girl I was ready to propose to, and she turns out to be like all the rest. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I make it home and ignore all the calls. Eventually turn off my phone. I don’t want to talk to anybody, especially Kim. I wonder if she’s left any messages saying how sorry she is. Should block her number. Maybe not.

I head straight to the wet bar, grab a bottle, and drink until I don’t feel anything. Wake up the next morning on the couch with the light streaming into the room and someone banging on the door. “Ohhh,” I grunt and rub my temples. I’m getting too old for this shit.

The hammering on the door won’t stop, so I crawl off the couch and weave my way to the door. Open it and see Ryder. At least he’s alone.

“What do you want?”

I turn and head to the kitchen. I need coffee.

“What the fuck was that about last night?” he says. “Leaving her like that.”

I reach into the cabinet and grab some aspirins.

“Zoey wanted to kill you. It took a lot of convincing to let me come here alone.” He sits down on one of my chairs.

I’m already pissed he’s here. Now he’s telling me he saved me from an ass chewing from his wife. Like I could give a shit.

I spin around and growl, “Get the hell out of my house.”

He growls back, “Oh, don’t worry. I’m going. But not until I let you know what a big fucking mistake you made last night.”

Kim is the one who made a mistake.

“Listen––”

He raises a hand to silence me. “Listen to what I have to say, and then I’ll leave you here to wallow.”

“I thought you were finished?”

“Fuck you.”

I haven’t seen him this mad in a while. Maybe I should ease off a bit. “Go ahead.”

“Kim’s mother set you up. She was spewing lies, and you bought into everything she had to say. You left the only good thing in your life heartbroken and lying in a pool of tears. When you come to realize what a horrible mistake you’ve made, it’ll be too late. You stupid fuck!”

He turns on his heel and leaves the room. I slide to the floor; my legs won’t hold me any longer. Did I make a mistake? The coffee machine burps, but I don’t make a move to get a cup.

I close my eyes and recall Kim’s face. Why did I so quickly believe her mother? I may have just ruined the best relationship I’ll ever have.

I drag myself off the kitchen floor and go find my phone. It’s lying on the floor next to the couch, where I dropped it last night. I check recent calls. I dialed Kim three times last night. Don’t even remember it.

I call her again and wait for her to pick up. It goes to the message service telling me the customer is not available. She blocked my number. Guess I can’t blame her.

But I can fix this. If she won’t talk to me on the phone, I’ll just go over to her place. She can’t avoid me then.

I take a shower and change my clothes. Time to make things right.