Picking Up the Pieces (Pieces, #2)(96)

The girls all cheered except Amanda. She simply sat there looking at us: her three best girlfriends and one virtual stranger, who were determined to give her the night of her life. “I’m probably going to regret this, but I’m in.” Her voice lacked the conviction I was used to, but still, I could work with it.

“Atta girl.” I leaned in and hugged her before turning to locate Melody. “Melody,” I yelled to our server, who was currently about twenty-five feet away waiting on another table, “we’re going to need some pasta and a lot of alcohol.”

“I’m on it,” Melody called back.

I nodded firmly. “Now that everyone’s on board, let’s get this ho train moving.”

***

Two hours later, I was sitting beside a very drunk Amanda in a back booth at Swanky. We’d lost track of the other girls on the dance floor at some point. As soon as I saw the waterworks coming, I knew to get Amanda somewhere secluded. The only thing she hated more than crying was crying in front of people.

“He’s going to call it off, isn’t he, Lil?”

“No, Shane would never do that. He’s crazy about you.”

“But I lied to him. He’ll never forgive me.”

“You didn’t lie to him. You just didn’t tell him. They’re very different things.” I instantly recognized my logic. I’d used it on myself quite a few times. The aftertaste of the words was bitter as I remembered how untrue this advice actually was. A lie of omission was still a lie. But saying that to a completely obliterated Amanda wasn’t going to help her situation.

“No, I should’ve told him. It wouldn’t have mattered if I’d been upfront about it. But it looks f*cked up that I didn’t, like we were trying to be sneaky about it.”

“You weren’t being sneaky. You just didn’t want to dredge up awkward shit that had no bearing on your relationship. Shane will understand once the shock wears off. He’s a great guy.”

“He is, Lily. He really is. And he fought so hard for me. All I did for so long was push him away and make him feel like he wasn’t good enough for me, when really it was the other way around. He’s the one who’s too good. I don’t deserve him. But the kicker is, he wants me anyway. After everything I’ve done to him—how bad I made him feel—he still wants me.” Her head dropped. “Now he’ll see. I’m not worth all of this bullshit. He could do so much better.”

My heart twisted at her words. And as I tried to soothe her, I couldn’t stop my mind from internalizing what she’d said. Maybe that’s why seeing Mary with Max was so hard for me. He finally realized he could do better than me. And even though I had Adam—had declared that he was my version of doing better—the sinking feeling in my stomach left me hollow. I'd never even realized how much I liked the idea of Max fighting for me until now—when I realized he’d stopped.





Chapter 36: Max


I’d felt like a prick for leaving Mary with the girls after Kyle’s epic f*ck-up. She’d been all for a little girl-bonding when I’d mentioned the weekend to her, but I was pretty sure riding through a category four emotional meltdown was not what she’d envisioned. But still, when Shane had announced he was ready to leave, she’d leaned over to me and told me to go, knowing that it was my name on the VIP list.

So I’d whispered for her to call me if she needed me, given her a soft kiss on the cheek, and trailed after the boys. And as I’d cast one look over my shoulder back at the table before we exited the restaurant, I’d thought about what a great girl she was. And I wondered what the hell she was doing with me.

I’d arranged for a limo to take us where we wanted to go, mostly because I didn’t know how these guys partied and I didn’t want to get stuck somewhere I didn’t want to be. As we approached and I explained that the limo was for us, some of the excitement for the night stirred. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

“Are there strippers inside? Tell me there are strippers,” Ben pleaded.

“Sorry to disappoint ya, buddy.” I grinned as I would at a four-year-old, clapping him on the shoulder for added support. This guy was a f*cking frat boy reject.

I wasn’t quite sure how Ben and Shane had emerged from the same parents. Granted, they looked similar, but that’s where the commonalities ended. Ben made me look mature. And that was really f*cking saying something.

The rest of the guys murmured their gratitude as they climbed inside. Shane was the last one to the car, and he stuck his hand out as he reached me.

“Thanks, man. For everything. This is all . . .” he gestured to the limo, “incredible. And I’m sorry the night started out so awkwardly. You think your girl’s gonna be okay with them?” He threw his head back toward the hotel, even though his meaning was clear without the gesture.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Mary’s impossible not to like, and Lily’ll watch out for her.”

“Lily? The same Lily who was staring daggers at you about ten minutes ago?” Shane looked skeptical.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“I don’t know, dude. She didn’t seem in the friendliest mood.”

“Lily’s only capable of being genuinely rude to me.” I laughed, as though I were joking. We both knew I wasn’t. “I know that girl better than I know anyone else in the world. She’ll pull through for me.”