Page 54 of Love & Other Drunken Mistakes
“I texted.”
“Yes, a whole two words. ‘Arrived safely.’ Then nothing for threedays.”
“I wasn’t aware I needed to do daily check-ins,” I reply dryly.
“You do when you fly across the country to meet some random guy. What if he was a mad scientist luring you into his secret lair to perform illegal experiments?”
I eye the scene around him and notice the haphazard paper stacks at the edge of the frame. “Are you working on a new story?”
Calder pauses, the ball frozen in one hand. “Maybe.”
“Did you only call me because you have writer’s block?”
Calder straightens and shoves the papers off screen. “I wouldnever. I’m simply concerned about my baby brother—”
“I’m thirty-one.”
“—who flew across the country to meet a stranger from the internet.”
“Nick’s hardly a stranger. Marcus has met him in person multiple times, and we dated for months.”
Calder catches the past tense. “He’s broken up with you already, hasn’t he?”
The ‘already’ implies he knew it would happen, and I can’t say he’s wrong. Nick wasn’t my shortest relationship, but he set a new record for time spent in a room together: none. I sigh. “Is it that obvious?”
“No, actually. Usually when someone dumps you, you’re a mess. Hell, the fact you didn’t drunk dial me is weird enough. When’d it happen? Just now? Are you in shock? Do you need medical attention?”
“No, I do not need medical attention,” I growl.I’m surrounded by people with overactive imaginations.“It happened Saturday night.”
“Shit, seriously? That’s a long way to fly for a pump and dump. Though I guess he wouldn’t care if he’s not the one wasting money.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep, steadying breath. If I’m not careful, Calder will trample all over thisconversation. “That’s not what happened. We didn’t even meet.”
“What?! That’s even worse! You should at least get some ass out of this wasted trip.”
“Calder.” The library rooms are semi-private but not completely soundproof. I glance through the glass wall to make sure our conversation hasn’t attracted attention. A mother and her child walk past the window without glancing at me, so they hopefully didn’t hear anything. The kid may be here to learn new vocabulary, but they don’t need any lessons from my brother.
Calder begins tossing the ball back and forth again. It’s distracting, but he’s always needed something to do with his hands. Mom tried to encourage him to take up knitting or crochet, but when he got bored and tied knots in all her expensive yarn, she never trusted him near it again. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this happened three days ago, but you didn’t bother to inform anyone. You should call Mom, by the way,” he adds as an afterthought.
“I’ve been busy,” I hedge, not quite sure I want to spill all the sordid details to Calder. He’s never been the best at keeping secrets. All it takes is a glass of scotch to loosen his lips, and he doesn’t even have to drink it first.
“With what? The whole reason you went over there was to spend time with your boyfriend and those plans were obviously canceled.”
I’ll need to tell him something, even if I don’t explain the whole story. “I met someone else.”
The ball stops again. “No.” The one word is packed with the authority of an older brother who thinks he can tell me what to do because ‘Mom left him in charge.’
I ignored him then and I ignore him now. “His name is Alex.”
He drops his feet from the desk and plants them firmly on the floor with an audible thump. “No,Euan, you can’t do this. You can’t jump from one boyfriend to the next. First, you’re only visiting, so no matter how much you like him, it will be long distance. Again. Because that worked out so well the first time. Second, it’s been three days. Give yourself a little time to recover before diving into something new.”
“It’s complicated,” I begin.
“Complicated how?” Calder’s eyes narrow. “Is he married?”
Evasion is one thing but lying to him will only cause problems later down the line. The annulment will invalidate the marriage legally. It won’t erase the knowledge that it happened. “Yes.”
“Euan—”
