Page 101 of Crash and Burn

"Where's the fire?" he asked. "Are you taking off already?"

I nodded silently, not wanting him to hear my wavering voice.

He ducked down and eyed me with worry. I was sure my glossy eyes told him exactly what kind of state I was in.

He put an arm around my shoulders.

"I don't think you should be alone right now," he said.

I was too drained to argue. I let him lead me away from the exit and toward a group of people, with Mason, Bree and Jessie, along with a few others I recognized.

"Please don't make a big scene," I pleaded with Evan. The last thing I needed was for him to announce to the world how emotionally fragile I was at that moment.

"No worries," he said to me quietly then raised his voice so the others could hear. "You must be Connor, right?" He nodded to an attractive pair standing next to Mason. "And this is Quinn?"

Connor was the owner of the bar and he'd hired Quinn to renovate Manny's into the gorgeous space that was now Sin and Tonic. They'd started dating at sometime in the process and were never too far apart from one another. They both had dark hair and made for a striking couple.

I was glad Evan kept the attention on people other than me.

"You're the new guy Mason hired?" Connor shook hands with Evan. "I've heard good things."

They caught up on bar-related business while I sipped on my drink. Jessie weaved her way through the group until she was next to me.

"You doing okay?" she asked.

"Fine," I said quickly, taking another gulp so I didn't have to answer in further detail.

"It's okay if you're not," she said.

I looked down into my glass. So many emotions were swirling inside me, I didn't know if I'd be able to identify them all if I tried.

"Grant told me he loves me," I said, lowering my voice. “He told me he broke up with Alana. But it's like you said. It might take a while to get to a point where I'm okay with what happened.”

She nodded sympathetically and gave me a squeeze.

“…can't believe this!” a woman cried.

We all turned to see Grant and Alana, hurt on her face and tears in her eyes. He had his hands raised in a soothing gesture, as if trying to placate her.

Grant said something, his lips moving, but it was too quiet for the rest of us to hear. Alana wasn't so quiet.

“Have you loved her this whole time?” she sobbed loudly. “Is this why you wouldn’t even touch me?”

Grant continued to speak to her softly. Her face twisted, tears falling from her eyes and onto her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Alana.” Grant's voice was clear this time. “But I didn’t invite you here tonight.”

She heaved another sobbing breath, her lips trembling, and nodded at him once with a grim look. Then she wiped the tears from her face, turned on her heel and marched away stiffly.

"What the hell was that?" Evan asked after several moments of silence.

"I think," Jessie said carefully, “someone just tried to gatecrash the party.”

I should have felt overjoyed. My heart should have been lifted. But all I felt was that all-consuming ache. I didn't blame Alana for crying and storming off. I'd felt the urge to do just the same many times over the last few weeks.

In some odd way, I felt a pang of sympathy for her. I knew exactly what it felt like to lose Grant. I couldn't take any pleasure in her pain.

Grant stood in the middle of the gallery, looking lost as everyone pretended they hadn't seen the drama that had just played out in front of them.