Chapter 16
544 Words
CHAPTER 16
“Sometimes, this town is just too damn small.” Shannon tried to hold on to her anger to keep the tears from coming as Marcie pushed through the bathroom door after her.
“What’s going on? What’s the matter?”
Keep it light, Shannon. No need to ruin the evening. “Men are stupid.”
“Well, yes. But you seem pretty upset. Are we talking about one specific man? Maybe the invisible man having a late dinner in your apartment last night?”
“I’m such an idiot.” Why hadn’t she pushed him about the phone call? She should have followed her instincts. And if she were being honest with herself, maybe that was why she hadn’t wanted to go public. She’d missed all those little clues with Jackson. She’d paid better attention with Lucas.
Now she was extra glad she hadn’t given in to the urge to tell the whole world they were together. No one else had to know how stupid she’d been.
“It’s Lucas, isn’t it?”
She gasped and turned to Marcie. “How do you know?”
“Please. I’ve been your best friend since we were five years old. You’ve had a thing for him for years. I thought maybe since you were neighbours now, you might finally get it out of your system.” She handed Shannon a tissue from her purse. “But I guess he’s not as smart as I thought he was, since he’s over there with her and you’re in here with me. On the bright side, at least you didn’t sleep with him before you found out cheating runs in his family.”
“Marce.” Shannon let out a choking sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Here she was blasting Lucas for being a liar. She hesitated for a second, then raised her eyes.
Marcie gasped. “You did not!”
“Yeah. Yeah, we definitely did.”
“When?”
“You want the first time or the most recent time? Or, you know, a total count?”
Marcie squealed. “You sneaky b***h! How could you not tell me? Best friend code dictates you now owe me every delicious, sexy detail. Spill. Then we can go kick his ass together.”
The sad part was, Shannon didn’t want to kick his ass. She wanted to march right over and plant a big wet kiss on his lips, claiming him in front of everyone. But that would only add insult to injury.
Dammit. How could he? She could feel the tears welling up. s**t. Maybe it wasn’t just a s*x thing after all. “Marce. I think I’m in love with him.”
Marcie’s laughing green eyes lost their sparkle and her hands stopped digging through her purse. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” What was she going to do now?
There was only one thing to do, really. Build a wall around her heart and let it heal. No way was she ever going to tell him how she felt. She’d rather let him think that it was just a bit of fun and she’d moved on.
“Now I really gotta kick his ass.”
Shannon laughed as she wiped away the tears that just kept coming, and accepted the hug Marcie offered her.
“You’re right. Men are stupid.” Marcie pulled a cosmetics bag out of her purse. “I however, am both smart and prepared. Let’s get you cleaned up and get back out there. Let’s show him he’s not the only one who knows how to have a good time.”
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