“I want to talk about it now.” She grabbed my arm and stopped me from opening the door. “You keep asking me to give in to my feelings. To end a perfectly good relationship to give you another chance, but every time I try all I can do is see the guy who hurt me.”
“That guy is gone, Nora.” I moved her hand from my arm and opened the door. “I was hoping by now you knew that.” I went back into the bar and let the door close behind me. She’d run away from me enough times that I knew how she had to have felt standing out there alone, but I’d be damned if I was going to stand there and let her make a fool of both of us.
Knock, Knock.
“Go away,” I mumbled from underneath the covers of my bed. I’d somehow managed to make it home after making a complete fool of myself in front of Reid last night.
Omigod. What did I do?
I’d thrown myself at him. Asked him to be my dirty little secret. What in the hell is the matter with me? I’d been trying so hard to be rational and make a well thought out decision about this entire thing. I’d probably just ruined whatever chance there was for me and Reid with that stupid display of sluttiness.
The incessant pounding on my door continued.
“All right!” I threw back the covers. The chill of the air alerting me to the fact that I was wearing only my bra and underwear. I grabbed the first sweatshirt I saw hanging on the back of my closet door and pulled it on along with a pair of shorts off the floor. Whoever the hell was beating on my door better have had coffee. “I’m coming!”
I glanced in the mirror hanging beside the front door before I opened it. I’d definitely looked better. My hair was a rat’s nest tangled with bad decisions and far too much dancing. The mascara I’d put on before I went out was unflatteringly smeared below my eyes. I licked the tips of my fingers and tried to erase the aftermath of too much to drink and pulled open the door. I noticed Georgia’s purse and keys sitting there along with mine, and wondered why she didn’t get up to answer the damn door.
In my haste to make the ceaseless pounding on the door stop, I hadn’t even bothered to think about who it would be. The concerned look on Beau’s face was enough to completely sober me from last night’s events.
“Hey,” I said, as he burst into the room.
“Where in the hell have you been?” he asked. “I’ve been calling you. I went to the bar last night but you had already left.”
“I... um,” I thought back. I remembered Reid leaving and me on the verge of tears. And... Georgia. “Georgia drove us home and I went to bed,” I explained. “I might have had a little too much to drink.”
“Clearly,” he agreed. “You look terrible.” He walked over and placed his hands on my shoulders. “You should have answered your phone...” he trailed off as his eyes scanned down my face to my chest. It was not really a great time for him to be checking me out. I was not in the mood for a morning romp if that’s what his aim was. “What the fuck is this?” The angry way he spit his words and squeezed my shoulders was jarring.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, shrugging out of his hold. “What is the matter with you?”
He pointed at the name on the front of the zip up sweatshirt I was wearing. TRAVERS embroidered literally across my chest. “Why are you wearing his shirt?” I saw the blood rush to his face. The vein that ran up the side of his neck throbbing as he stared at me. “Is he here? Is that why you didn’t answer your phone? I swear to God,” he threatened something as he stormed down the hallway to my room, flinging open the door.
“He’s not here,” I yelled, following after him. “This is not what it looks like.”