Tom elbowed him and said, loudly, “Shit, remember how they locked us out of the hotel room?” To me, he said, “This is hilarious, man. Hilarious. They locked us out, and they were so into it, they didn’t even hear us knocking. We had to sleep in the friggin’ hallway that night.”
Laughing, Josh said, “That girl was hella loud, too. Oh, Jere-uhhh-mi-uhhh…”
I saw red. Under the tables, I clenched my fists. I wanted to hit something. First I wanted to hit these twoguys, and then I wanted to go find my brother and beat the shit out of him.
I jumped up from the table and made my way across the club, shouldering and pushing my way through the crowd until I got to the bathroom.
I banged on the door.
“Somebody’s in here,” Jeremiah slurred from inside. Then I heard him retch into the toilet.
I stood there another few seconds, and then I walked away, past our table and out to the parking lot.
chapterforty-seven
An hour later, the boys came back, drunk as skunks. I’d seen Jere drunk before, but not like this. He was so wasted, the boys practically had to carry him upstairs. He could barely open his eyes. “Belllllly,” he called out. “I’m gonna marry you, girl.”
From the bottom of the staircase, I yelled back, “Go to sleep!”
Conrad wasn’t with them. I asked Tom, “Where’s Conrad? I thought he was your designated driver.”
Tom was swaying upstairs. “I dunno. He was with us.”
I went out to the car, thinking maybe he’d passed out in the backseat. But he wasn’t there. I was starting to get worried, but just then I caught a glimpse of him way down the beach, sitting in the lifeguard stand. I took off my shoes and made my way over to him.
“Come down,” I called up. “Don’t fall asleep up there.”
“Come up,” he said. “Just for a minute.”
I thought about it for a second. He didn’t sound drunk; he sounded fine. I climbed up the side of the chair and sat next to him. “Did you guys have fun?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer me.
I watched the water lap along the shore. There was a crescent moon. I said, “I love it here at night.”
And then, suddenly, he said, “I have to tell you something.”
Something in his voice scared me. “What?”
Looking out at the ocean, he said, “Jere cheated on you when he was in Cabo.”
That wasn’t what I expected him to say. It was maybe the last thing I expected him to say. His jaw was clenched, and he looked angry. “Tonight at the club, one of his dumbass friends said something.” He finally looked at me. “I’m sorry you had to hear it from me. I thought you had a right to know.”
I didn’t know how to answer him. I finally said, “I already knew about it.”
His head jerked back. “You knew?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re still marrying him?”
My cheeks felt hot. “He made a mistake,” I said softly. “He hates himself for what he did. I forgave him. Everything’s fine now. Everything’s really great.”
Conrad’s mouth curled in disgust. “Are you kidding me? He spent the night in a hotel room with some girl and you’re defending him?”
“Who are you to judge us? It’s none of your business.”
“None of my business? That shithead is my brother, and you’re…” He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he said, “I never thought you’d be the kind of girl who would put up with that from a guy.”
