Page 84 of Man Candy (After We Fall 1)
I looked almost as bad as I felt. The carefully applied cat’s-eye liner had morphed into raccoon eyes. My face was pale, my eyes were bloodshot, and my matted hair made Margot’s blond bird nests look like gold satin. The effect of two cocktails and many, many glasses of red wine was not pretty.
“Whyyyyy,” I moaned.
But I knew why—to dull the pain.
When I thought about what had happened with Quinn, I felt the sharp sting of it poking through the haze of my hangover.
But I deserved it.
I’d fucked up.
Again.
It had seemed like such a good idea, cornering him in the bathroom, such a cute nod to our past, but then nothing had come out right.
Because I’m not good at that stuff. I don’t know how to do it.
Frowning at my reflection one last time, I made my way downstairs, carrying my shoes in one hand and my dignity in the other.
Nolan and Alex were bright-eyed and chipper, having coffee and muffins in the kitchen.
“There she is!” Nolan hopped up and grabbed a big glass from a cupboard, filling it with water. “You’re gonna want this, sunshine. I’ll get you some coffee and ibuprofen too.”
“Thanks,” I said weakly. My tongue felt like it had a fur coat on.
“How are you doing?” Alex grinned at me from over the rim of his cup.
“Don’t ask. Ugh.” I grimaced as I sat down at the kitchen table. “I think there’s a dead rodent in my mouth.”
Nolan set the water and ibuprofen in front of me and I tried to smile. “Thanks.”
“Want to talk about it?” my brother asked.
I swallowed the pills and some water before answering. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Quinn was worried about you.”
I sighed.
“What happened with that?” Nolan wondered, setting a cup of coffee in front of me before sitting down again.
“What happened was that I blew it about three weeks ago. And then I blew it again last night.”
“How so?”
I inhaled and exhaled. Even breathing hurt. “I saw what a bad breakup did to Margot, and I panicked that my feelings for Quinn were getting too serious.”
“Too serious for what?” Alex asked.
“For comfort.” I tried a sip of the coffee. “You know how I am.”
“So what did you do?” Nolan pressed. “Break it off?”
“Yes. But I was fucking miserable without him, so last night when I saw him, I had this brilliant idea that I could get him back—and it didn’t work.”
“What did you do?” Alex questioned.
“I told him I loved him, because I thought that’s what he needed to hear.”
