Page 44 of A Sip of Sherry
“When am I allowed back?”He pouted.
“I’ll text you.”Lainey gave him another quick kiss, then pushed away and waved as he stood there, looking like an abandoned puppy.
It was hard to imagine this was the same man who used to have a string of one-night stands and refused to settle down.Now it was as if Lainey was an extension of him.Like he didn’t quite know what to do with himself if she wasn’t nearby.
Nero lingered for a second longer before turning with a huff toward his truck.Before he opened the door, he stopped and turned to me.“You just miss Lanes, right?Like you’re good?”
“I’m good,” I assured him.“Just need some girl talk.”
“And that’s my cue to leave.”
“That’syour cue?”Lainey exclaimed.“Sherry yanking you outside and me throwing you your shoes wasn’t enough?”
“What can I say?”Nero shrugged.“I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when they’re clearly staging a coup.”
“It’s not a coup.It’s a code red.Best friend emergency.Your services are no longer required.”
“Code red?I didn’t see any alarms go off.Hell, Sherry barely even said a word.”
Lainey smiled.“She didn’t have to.”
“That’s why she’s my best friend,” I said.“And she was my best friend long before she let you into her pants, so off with you.”
Nero sighed and stepped into his shoes.“I’ll be at the distillery.Text me when I’m allowed to come back.”
“I’ll think about it.”Lainey winked with all the sass someone her stature could muster.
“And Sher, if you need anything…”
“I know,” I said.
Then he was off, taillights fading into the night as I turned to Lainey.Before I could utter a word, she flung her arms around me and squeezed me tight.I sunk into her hug, realizing how desperately I needed it.My perfectly tight emotions started to unravel.
She grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the house.With the slam of the door, she spun toward me, folding her arms over her ample chest.“Start talking.”
The lump in my throat since Ben rejected me rose faster than I could swallow it.I didn’t want to cry.I wasn’t some pathetic sap who let men have that much control of my emotions.As soon as I opened my mouth, the words spilled out, along with a sob and maybe a tear or three.
“One minute, everything was perfect.He opened up to me, and he was sweet and honest and vulnerable.Then it was like someone flipped a switch.”
“Like Vampire Diaries where they turn their emotions off?”
“Kind of.He became distant and almost cold.It was weird.”
“So you don’t think he actually had something to do?”
I raised my eyebrows and blinked slowly.“Seriously?”
“I had to ask.”Lainey spun toward the kitchen and returned a moment later with Nero’s opened bottle of wine and two glasses.She sat on the couch beside me, poured the wine, handed me a glass and crisscrossed her legs.“Okay.Let’s rewind.Start at the beginning and tell me everything.Word for word.”
So I did.I started all the way when I agreed to go to dinner with him all the way to those final moments in front of my house.When I was done, Lainey was refilling my empty wineglass.
“I don’t know.Maybe after talking to me, he realized without sex, I had nothing else to offer him.”
“That’s ridiculous, and you know it.”
“Is it, though?”
“Sher, you’re the kindest, sweetest person on this planet.You’re gorgeous and talented and smart and successful.You, my friend, are the entire package.If he can’t see that, then he’s the one who’s lacking, not you.”
