Page 111 of Running Home to You
“I should’ve never left or stayed away.” Abby breathed against her and Kate swore she detected her heart in the brief skim of their skin, pounding the same as hers. “I’ll see you next week.”
As Abby backed away, nodding with one last glimmer of those amber eyes, something frightening roared in Kate. She knew, with a confusing mix of hope and dread, that Abby wasn’t ready to let her go. But more than that, as her plane took off for San Francisco, she knew that something horrible awaited.
The Wedding
Abby washed the Percocet down with scotch in the bathroom. She held out through the ceremony, despite the agony of spending the day next to Kate. Getting ready, taking photos, standing side by side as Mick and Haley exchanged vows, as if nothing had happened between them. As if she hadn’t spent every night sick, every day distracted, contemplating her phone, plotting how she might win her back. She never stopped loving or wanting Kate, but Las Vegas reawakened a monster in her. Abby finished her drink and charged back into the reception.
“There you are.” Dani stopped her and pecked her lips. “I feel like I haven’t seen you all day.”
“Sorry. Bridesmaid duties.” Abby kissed her again. She frowned at neglecting her during the wedding and brushing her aside since the bachelorette. Dani didn’t deserve it. More accurately, Abby didn’t deserve her. Of the many women she’d dated and slept with to get over Kate, Dani was the sweetest, the smartest, the most patient. She’d stuck around the longest and if it hadn’t been for Las Vegas, Abby might have considered a future where they were close to happy.
Dani brushed her cheek. “Are you okay? You’re sweaty.”
Abby diverted her eyes. Dani had caught on to her opioid abuse a few months ago and made her flush the pills down the toilet. After aweek of sweating out her mistakes on the couch, she thought she might’ve kicked them for good. But as Las Vegas crept closer, she sought relief. She told herself just one to help her sleep in the weeks leading up to it, and soon she was begging doctors for more, complaining of knee pain, back on the hook by the time Kate threw a drink in her face.
She’d tried to slow down since, hating the disappointment in Kate’s eyes, surviving on half pills to avoid vomiting and the chills, but her teeth clenched for more, agitated and restless, an eye always on the clock. Today she couldn’t take it.
“I’m good,” Abby said. “I’m just regretting the suit.”
“I think it’s cute.”
“Just cute?”
“Sexy.” Dani tugged on her lapel. “Come dance with me.”
Abby shook her head. “I don’t know. The knee is killing me today.” Her gaze drifted past Dani’s shoulder, landing on Kate across the way, radiant in her burgundy dress with hair tumbling in waves. “I’m going to grab a drink. You want anything?”
“No, but hurry back and sit with me. Dylan’s nice, but I’m going to go crazy if I have to listen to him talk about hedge funds any longer.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Abby kissed her. “Thanks for being such a good sport.”
“You owe me,” Dani said as Abby slinked off to the bar.
She ordered another scotch and found T.K., Jill, and Juniper. “Is this where all the cool kids are hanging out?” she asked.
“Not anymore,” T.K. said.
Abby clocked Jill’s glass and narrowed her brow. “Water? Are you pregnant?”
“No, I just haven’t recovered from the bachelorette. I’ve been puking all week…” Jill trailed, and her eyes widened. “Oh my God.”
“Congrats?”
“Condolences,” T.K. said before nudging Abby. “Dani’s cute.”
“Thanks.” She searched for Kate and found her next to Ryan, his hand at her waist.
“So, I think it’s an appropriate time to discuss Las Vegas…”
Abby didn’t acknowledge her, busy staring daggers at Ryan, despising his dimpled chin and golden hair. “How does she always find the most attractive, successful jerks to date?”
T.K. swirled her drink. “Some girls have all the luck.”
“He’s not that great.” Abby scowled and sipped her scotch. “He looks like he’s campaigning for Congress.”
“Well, Hutch is the all-American-girl type,” Jill said.
“What does that make me?”
