I went to my room and Ian followed me in. “Seriously, Rory. Stay home.”
I turned around and looked at him in confusion. It was okay for him to go out with that douchebag Andrew, but if I wanted to go out with my friend, he had a problem with it. No, this wasn’t okay anymore.
“So, let me get this straight; you want me to sit around this house while you go out with your best friend again.”
“Damn it, Rory. You act like we’re a f**king couple or something. This is the exact reason why I don’t do relationships.”
The fire inside reared its ugly flames as I stood there and glared at him. “We aren’t a couple, and you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Ian.” That was it; once I started, I couldn’t stop. “Who the hell do you think you are?” I asked as I pointed my finger at him. “You’ve made it very clear what our relationship is, and what I do when you’re not f**king me is none of your business.”
I could see the anger in his eyes as he stared at me. “Fine, Rory. You said it. It’s none of my business what you do, just like it’s none of your business what I do. Go out with your friends. I don’t care,” he said as he looked at his watch. “I have to go get ready. Have fun tonight. But when you get into trouble, don’t call me.”
“Fuck you!” I yelled as he walked out and slammed the door.
I sat on the edge of my bed in tears. My phone beeped with a text message from Jordyn.
“I’m sorry, Rory, but Ollie and I are staying in tonight. We’re both sick with the flu.”
“I hope you two feel better before tomorrow. Get some rest.”
Great. There was no way I was staying in this house alone tonight, so I called Adalynn to see if she was doing anything.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi,” I said with a sad tone. “Do you want to hang out tonight? Ian is going out with douchebag Andrew, and I’m not sitting here alone.”
Adalynn laughed loudly into the phone. “I’m sorry, Rory. But douchebag Andrew is brilliant. Anyway, Daniel and I are going to dinner. You are more than welcome to come with.”
I didn’t want to be a third wheel and disrupt their dinner plans. “It’s okay, Adalynn; you and Daniel have a great dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’m sure. Have fun,” I said as I hung up.
I sighed and got up from the bed. I walked down to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. When I turned around, Ian had just walked in. Goddamn it, his scent was amazing. He looked amazing and, at that moment, I hated him for going out looking and smelling like that. I looked away when he looked at me and headed towards the stairs.
“Have a good night,” he said as he put his hand on the door handle.
“You too,” I said as I put my hand up while walking up the stairs.
“Don’t worry. I fully intend to,” he replied.
I flinched when I heard the door shut. I stopped when I reached the top of the stairs and sat down with my back against the wall. I ran my hand through my hair and pressed my palm against my forehead. As I sat there, feeling sorry for myself and angrier than hell, I heard the door open. I looked over and saw Adalynn and Daniel standing in the foyer.
“Why are you sitting there like that?” she asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“Daniel and I are picking you up for dinner. It’s not even an option for you to tell us no, so go freshen up because I’m starving.”
“Hi, Rory.” Daniel smiled and waved.
“Hi, Daniel.” I smiled back. “Adalynn, I’m not hungry.”
“Nonsense. Did something happen between you and Ian?”
“Yeah.”
She walked up the stairs and took a hold of my arm. “Come on, up you go. You’re coming with us.”
I knew if I didn’t go, she’d hound me to death. The one thing I noticed was that Adalynn always got her way.
“Fine, just let me go brush my hair and I’ll tell you all about it in the car.”
****
We arrived at the restaurant and were promptly seated in a corner booth. The waitress brought our drinks and took our food order. As Adalynn, Daniel, and I were talking, I heard a familiar voice and laugh. I stopped sipping my cosmopolitan and froze.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Adalynn asked.
“That voice. That’s Andrew’s voice,” I said as I slowly turned my head and looked behind me.
“Oh no,” Adalynn said as she looked where I was looking.
Sitting at a table with Andrew, were Ian and two beautiful twin brunette women. Instantly, I felt sick to my stomach and it was getting hard to breathe.
“Rory, calm down,” Adalynn said. “We don’t know the situation.”
“The situation? They are both on dates with those women. Look at how Ian is smiling at her and leaning closer to her. He lied to me. He told me it was him and Andrew,” I said as tears sprang to my eyes.
“You know, I’m getting really sick of him,” Adalynn spat as she got up from the booth.
“Where are you going?” I said as I grabbed her wrist.
“To say hi, darling.” She smiled.
Adalynn walked over to the table and talked to Ian and Andrew.
“Duck down, Rory,” Daniel said. “They’re looking over here,” he said as he smiled and gave a small wave to them.
A few moments later, Adalynn came back to the table. “Well, wasn’t that pleasant.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing much. I asked Ian where you were and he said he didn’t know and that you mentioned something about going out with Jordyn. So I asked the bastard why he didn’t bring you to dinner. He didn’t answer me. Those two women are Andrew’s cousins from out of town. They’re here for the holiday, so Andrew decided to take them to dinner.”
“I bet he did, and I bet Ian has f**ked both of them too. I’m so sorry, Adalynn and Daniel, but I have to get out of here because I feel like I’m going to lose it any second.”
The thing that sucked was that I would have to pass their table to get out of the restaurant. While I was contemplating my escape, the waitress came over and set down our food.
“Excuse me, but is there another way out of this restaurant besides the front?”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “There’s the back way through the kitchen, but customers aren’t allowed back there.”