Unraveled (Holding On Book 3) (5 page)

Carly’s fingers danced around the base of the small glass. She hadn’t wanted to talk about Nolan. Yet, she knew she would have to some time. She couldn’t go on forever, pretending that nothing had happened.

Although
…she thought,
she could maybe pull it off for another six months
.

It wasn’t as if her family had ever seen much of Nolan. If he didn’t come for a visit between now and June, they probably wouldn’t even question it. She could prolong the, ‘I told you so
,’ from her Mom and the look of pity from her sister.

“Whoa,” Jemma said as she leaned back in the booth.

Carly reluctantly lifted her gaze from where it had been blindly resting on her shot. “Yeah.”

“It’s
that bad?” Jemma surmised. She grabbed a strand of her ebony hair and twirled it listlessly around a finger. Her eyes were such a deep brown, the irises almost weren’t visible. Her shimmery red lipstick stood out against her cinnamon colored skin. Those lips pursed in question.

Carly fina
lly lifted the glass and downed the drink. She made a face as the fruity concoction slid down. “
Gah
…no more of those,” she said as she placed the glass back on the table.

Jemma waved a manicured hand at her.
Her crimson nails flashing. “
Pfftttt
, a little old foo-foo shot like that? You can handle a few more.” She motioned to the waitress. “Two more Melon Balls, please. And another of each of these.” She motioned to the bottles of beer on the table.

The girl scampered off to retrieve their order.

“I’m still waiting, you know,” Jemma said.

“Nolan and I are over,
” Carly blurted. There was no way she could’ve dropped that verbal bomb on her family. Not today. Jemma? Jemma was different. Jemma, Carly was sure, would understand. She had walked that twisted, potholed road herself.

“Son of a bitch,” she muttered. “I’d love to think you’re the one that dumped his ass. But judging by that sour look on your face, I’m guessing that isn’t so.”

Carly shook her head. She dumped out the whole story to Jemma, stopping only to down another Melon Ball…or two. She told Jemma details that she wouldn’t dream of sharing with anyone else. Only because like her, Jemma had dated a skeezeball or two in her day. Jemma, however, had been smart enough not to get herself engaged to one. Even still, Carly trusted her to understand in a way she wasn’t sure anyone else would.

“What a dirty bastard,” Jemma finally declared.
“I can’t believe he was just sneaking out?”

“Yup.”

“And he was going to just write a note?!”

“Yup.
”

“And that morning, he had the nerve to—”

“Yup,” Carly said again, cringing as she cut off her friend.

“Dirty
bastard
!” Jemma said yet again. She gave a sharp shake of her head.

Carly’s
emotions had been on overload all day. It felt good to let someone else in. She’d assumed that it would be Quinn that she’d tell first because her sister would help her carry that mental burden. Yet, she didn’t want to do that to her sister. Not today, of all days.

Jemma was the perfect alternative. She wouldn’t judge
, either. And she’d probably understand better than anyone how Carly felt. While their other friends were married and starting families, the two of them were still far, far away from experiencing the joys of marital bliss.

“What are you going to do?”
Jemma wondered.

She made a face. “No idea. I don’t know how I’m ever going to afford rent. I barely have enough in savings from my summer job to get me through as it is. But add rent to that? I
mean, yeah, I can get a job when I get back. Maybe. Although with school underway, it’s hard to find jobs this time of year. The other problem is, I’m not naturally smart like Quinn is. I mean, I work my ass off for decent grades. I don’t have
time
to work next semester. Then again, if I don’t have anywhere to live, it won’t even matter. I’m just…screwed.”

She cast a forlorn look to Jemma. Jemma pulled out her cell phone.

“What are you doing?” Carly suspiciously wondered.

Jemma waved the phone at her and then began tapping away on it. “I’m texting Bart, asking if he’s free to drive us home. I have a hunch tonight could be a late night.”

Carly nodded then hesitantly asked, “I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass, but do you think I could crash at your house? I can’t deal with
Margo
tonight.”

“Not a problem,” Jemma assured her.
She’d been friends with Quinn since grade school. She knew Mrs. Johnson well so she didn’t need further explanation. Her phone chirped and she glanced at it. “We’re good. Bart will be here in a bit. He was getting ready to head out anyway. Another round?”

Carly laughed. “I think I’m out of practice. Or at the very least, I need to slow down.”
Her head was already spinning. There had been a time when she could out-drink just about anyone. Those days were no more. While she still enjoyed a night out, even
she
realized she’d become a bit more responsible over the past few years. She had a feeling that tonight, that just might change. Then again, if she was ever due for a night of drinking herself senseless, she decided tonight was that night.

With a responsible ride on the wa
y, and somewhere safe to crash, she decided…
Why not
? She reached for her beer.

“
I think I better make sure you eat something,” Jemma said. She flagged the waitress down and ordered them each burgers.

“You know what really sucks?” Carly lamented.

“Um, aside from your fiancé dumping you?” Jemma asked with raised eyebrows. “What could be worse?”

“I lied to my parents. They have no idea that Nolan and I are…
were
…living together. They think that I’m living with some friends off campus. It’s the only way that they agreed to pay my rent after I moved out of the dorms. You know how they feel about ‘cohabitating’ before marriage.” Carly used air quotes, while she mimicked her mother. Margo, especially, was firmly against what she constantly referred to as unsavory cohabitation.

Carly perched her elbows on the table and then rested her face in her hands. She took several deep breaths. Despite the alcohol, her head was still clear enough for her to realize just how much Nolan had derailed her life. She finally lifted her head to face her friend.

“My parents are never going to forgive me for this. Mom warned me over and over that I rushed into the engagement. Dad has sent me a rent check every month. When they find out that I am not getting married…And that I might not have anywhere to live…That I’ve been
lying
to them for a year…?” She moaned again. She wasn’t sure which of the above her parents were going to be more upset over.

Then again, did it matter?

Probably not. No matter how she looked at it, she knew she was screwed.

“Sorry, Carly,” Jemma said sympathetically. “I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, I know how difficult Margo can be. But you have a few weeks to figure it out.” Jemma made an apologetic face. “Do you have any friends you can crash with?”

Carly scoffed. “For the next five months…?” She shook her head. She didn’t bother to tell Jemma she wasn’t really close to that many girls at school. She had a few friends, sure. She and Melissa were pretty close. But after she’d gotten engaged, she was horrified to now realize she’d become one of “those girls”. It hadn’t been intentional. Since she and Nolan were living together, it had just become easy to turn down invites out. They’d gotten accustomed to staying at home and spending a lot of nights in. When they did go out, like they’d planned to that night, it was usually with mutual friends.

Carly felt h
er frustration sizzle through her. How was she supposed to face them? Dan? Melissa? The rest of their friends? Had they known? Or did Nolan just skip town without telling anyone goodbye? Was
she
going to have to tell everyone? She wasn’t sure which option was worse.

Their food arrived and Carly managed to steer the conversation away from
herself. It had become too depressing. Instead, she insisted Jemma give her an update on her life. Carly found out that things were still moving forward with Bart—which she’d already deduced from the text Jemma had sent asking for a ride. They’d been together for over a year now but Jemma hadn’t hinted to her that they’d talked about marriage yet.

Carly found
herself envious, wishing she’d taken things that slowly. She took another sip of her beer and then realized that Jemma was grimacing.

“What?” Carly demanded.

“Your night is about to get a hell of a lot better…Or a hell of a lot worse,” Jemma declared.

Carly glanced over her shoulder, toward the door. Bart had walked in with some friends.
She recognized Shane immediately as her eyes zeroed in on the new-comers pushing their way through the crowd. Bart, Shane…and…yes…As soon as Shane stepped to the side, it was clear who Jemma had seen.

Jesse.

“Sorry, Carly,” Jemma quickly said. “I had no idea he was going to show up. I knew Bart had plans with friends. I figured Shane was one of them…I guess I should’ve assumed Jesse would be with them too. I totally wasn’t thinking.”

Carly forced a shrug.

Despite vision that was starting to blur, she’d recognize Jesse just about anywhere.

He spotted her nearly the same moment she spotted him. Carly could tell by his startled look that he was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. He stopped in his tracks for just a moment. Then he gave his head a little shake, as if to
clear it and then moved forward. Carly pivoted back around in the booth. It didn’t take long for the guys to weave their way through the crowd.

“Hey, we can join you right?” Bart asked.

Jemma looked to Carly. “Well, I don’t know,” she said, keeping her tone light. “We’re in the middle of some girl talk. I didn’t realize you’d be coming to get us right away.”

Bart grinned at her and nudged her over. “I’m not here to take you home yet. I was just meeting up with Jesse and Shane when I got your text. We were planning on coming here anyway.”

“Take a seat,” Shane said to Jesse. He motioned to the spot in the booth next to Carly. Shane reached over and grabbed a chair from the nearest table. He settled the chair at the end of the booth and took that seat for himself.

Carly felt her gaze lingering over Jesse. He was still wearing those worn jeans. His hair looked freshly styled.
From where she was sitting, she recognized the scent of his cologne. It was the same brand she’d gotten him
so
many years ago. Surely, he’d had to replace that bottle by now. Her lips twitched—somewhere between smug and amused—over the realization that despite all the women he’d dated over the years…It was her cologne that he still wore.

“Carly?”

Her eyes snapped up to his face. He was still standing next to their booth. She realized that he must’ve said her name more than once. Not trusting her voice, she raised her eyebrows in question.

“Are you okay with us…uh, I mean me…joining you?” he asked.

She simply scooted over a miniscule amount and patted the seat next to her. She was pretty sure by that point, even without the alcohol, she was okay with just about anything that involved Jesse.

H
e gave Carly what she knew was a forced smile as he dropped himself into the booth. “So, stranger, I haven’t seen you in months. Now twice in one day,” he said as he leaned in close.

To hell with the alcohol.
She was going to become intoxicated simply with his scent.

“Yeah,” Carly agreed
, unable to force away her own, very real smile. “How about that?”