“You can. It’ll be fine. These are all your friends. We love you.” Meg took my head and pulled me in the direction of the crowded booth by the pool table.
“Sky!” Web jumped to his feet and enveloped me in a hug. Kyle Webber always made me feel better, it was just in his nature.
Jenna and Lena called out their greetings, making room for me beside them. Hannah joined a few minutes later carrying a tray laden with drinks. “Hey Sky, I hear you need some liquor, so I brought a little bit of everything.” She handed me a shot glass. “There you go, drink up.”
I knocked back the amber-colored liquid, coughing as the whisky hit the back of my throat. “That’s a girl, have another.” Hannah shoved another glass my way.
“Give the woman time to breathe, Han,” Lena scolded.
“Skylar’s a badass, she can handle it,” Hannah remarked breezily, slamming back two shots in quick succession.
“You look tired, babe. You okay?” Whitney asked, keeping her voice low.
I shrugged, feeling the effects of the shot already. I hadn’t eaten much all day, so any alcohol was bound to go straight to my head.
“I don’t understand where things went wrong with you two. I just don’t get it. He’s been a complete asshole all week. He almost got thrown out of court this morning for mouthing off to the judge,” Lena said in shock. “Let me say that again—Robert Jenkins almost got thrown out of court. Robert, “I read gardening magazines for fun” Jenkins. It’s like we’re in a parallel universe.”
Meg gave her sister-in-law a stern look. “Okay guys, I didn’t drag Skylar out of the house so we could talk about her ex all night. I wanted to get her mind off Robert.”
Lena grimaced. “Sorry, Skylar.”
I waved away her comment. “It’s fine. I'm fine. Don’t worry about me.”
But I could tell everyone was worried about me. And they were probably right to be. They had never seen Skylar Murphy like this. I was the one who held it together, no matter what. I didn’t let things get to me, even after throwing my treacherous ex-fiancé to the curb. Even when my parents separated for the hundredth time and my mother burned my dad’s clothes on the front lawn for the whole neighborhood to see.
I was made of strong stuff.
That is until I went and gave my heart to someone, then I was a big pile of mush.
“I’m just going to say, I’ve always really liked Robert, but I’ll go kick his ass if you want me to,” Web offered and I couldn’t help but laugh, even though the stabbing pain in the center of my chest.
“I think if I need some asses kicked, I'm fully capable of handling that myself,” I reminded him.
Hannah lifted her drink into the air. “Here’s to kicking dudes’ asses!” She nudged Jenna who was sitting beside her. “You too, get your drink on, girlie.” Jenna, looking decidedly harassed, sipped on her fruity cocktail to appease her friend.
We all drank heavily after that. I found that once I started, it did make me feel better. I became more talkative the more inebriated I became. A couple of hours in, I was challenging Seb, one of the owners of the bar, and Brad’s brother, to a round of pool.
“Come on, man, you scared of being beaten by a woman?” I taunted, slurring my words. I probably should have thought twice about irritating him, but booze loosens my tongue.
Seb crossed his arms over his broad chest. He really was tattooed and scary. “I’m more scared of you toppling over,” he said looking over at his brother behind the bar and pointing down at me. “This one’s cut off, Brad.”
“Hey! No fair!” I shouted and Hannah started booing loudly.
“Don’t be a Billy-No-Fun, Seb. Can’t you see, our Skylar is heartbroken? Her medicine is lots and lots of alcohol,” Hannah hiccupped, coming to my defense.
Seb glowered at his employee. “Hannah, you work here, you shouldn’t be getting shitfaced in the place that employs you.”
She held her arms out. “I’m off the clock, Sebby. You can’t tell me what to do. Besides, Brady, Brad-Brad’s been serving me all night.”
“Of course, he is. That dumb ass can never say no to you,” Seb grumbled. “Well, I’m telling you that you both are cut off starting now. Order a damn coffee and sober the fuck up, Hannah.” He stormed off, most likely to tell off his brother.
Hannah stuck out her tongue at his retreating back. “That guy really is a stick in the mud. Come on, let's get the others and go somewhere else.” She took my hand and started leading me back to our table.
“Where are we going to go? This is the only bar in Southport.” I said, stumbling over my feet. I really was having a hard time staying upright.
“Oh yeah.” Hannah considered our options for a moment. She then checked her phone. “I know, let’s go get booze from the grocery store and go back to my place.”
“That sounds like a plan!” I said a little too loudly. “I’m going to pee before we leave,” I announced, though Hannah was already heading to the table, leaving me behind.
I went woozily to the back of the bar to the tiny hallway where the bathrooms were located, found the right door, and went in and did my thing. As I exited, someone came out of the men’s room just as I entered the hallway. His head was down, and he didn’t see me coming around the corner. And I was too drunk to stop myself from colliding into him hard enough to make the man fall back a step.
He reached out to grab me as I almost toppled over. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you…”
His voice faded
