I glanced up, the room too wavy to figure out where it went for a minute before I found Dave scrolling through my messages, shaking his head.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Sounds like you're the other woman, Ry—or otherman, I guess. You might want to back up a bit. Just until he figures things out.”
For a second, I was so hurt by the statement that I thought I was going to cry.
Dave didn't know the full scope. He didn't know how open and loving Kamran had been with me the last few times we'd been together. He didn't know how we relied on each other. He didn't know how much I needed him.
“Just give him a bit of time,” Ollie said, taking the phone from Dave's hand and handing it back to me. “I'm sure it'll all work out.”
I knew he was just trying to keep me calm. Even more telling was the way that they both changed the subject after that, despite being all about the gossip a few minutes ago.
I didn't bother trying to follow the conversation after that. I just sat, accepting the way the room swayed, and wondered what Kamran was doing right now.
He had promised me that he and Melissa never touched anymore and I did believe him but my mind was on a loop, remembering how they used to be when they'd first started dating.
They'd seemed so in love. I'd been so fucking jealous of Melissa—if only because she got to be so open about herinfatuation. I could relate to the way she looked at Kamran. It had made me feel close to her in a way because all I could think whenever I saw her looking at him was,yeah, he really does make the damn sun shine, doesn't he?
I'd supported them. I'd even set up all the fun best man stuff that guys always did, right up to a strip tease that Kamran had ended up giving to Dave, because he didn't want to do that to Lissa. A real class act, the two of them. At their wedding I'd thought they would be forever. I'd ended the night lying in bed hoping that these feelings would just go away. Then I'd woken up in the morning to a text from my best friend, thanking me for everything and I knew they weren't going anywhere. I would love him until the day I died.
“Come on, bud, I'll drive you home,” Dave said, pushing to his feet.
“I'm not getting in a car with you,” I argued, still a bit annoyed with him although I couldn't find the words to voice why. “You're drunk.”
He smiled indulgently.
“No, I had a can and a half,” he said, indicating the unfinished beer on the table.
“You should get home,” Ollie agreed. “Get in bed and forget about the rest for now.”
Sighing, I pushed to my feet.
Dave took my arm, but I shrugged him off, not talking to him until we were halfway home and he kept glancing at me, clearly waiting for me to break the ice.
“You don't know what you're talking about,” I informed him.
“Okay,” he said.
“You weren't there. You don't know what Kamran's going through.”
“That's true,” he agreed.
I looked at him to see if he was being facetious, but he seemed to mean it.
When he caught my eye, he just shrugged.
“I just hate to think you're going to get hurt, or strung along. You seem really invested. Then again, this is Kamran we're talking about. He's not that kind of guy…”
He trailed off and then shook his head.
“I never thought himorMelissa were the types to start cheating. Really makes you wonder what else was going on.”
I stared out the window, watching the streetlights pass.
Did there really have to be more to it?
Couldn't it just be that Melissa met someone else and he turned to me? Wasn't that enough?
It wasn't until I was lying in bed, clinging to the covers, wishing that I hadn't drank so much and that the room would stop spinning that I realized what Dave meant.
