Page 112 of Surviving Slater

I wiped the tears under his concerned look.

"I'm happy," I told him, and he arched an eyebrow at me.

"Really?" He looked doubtful.

I nodded. "It's emotional. They've been through so much and they deserve to have their happy ending."

"No such thing," he argued, watching his sister and Sin talking. I frowned.

"Of course there is," I argued back. It was the first time I got a glimpse of Connor's cynical side.

"I disagree," he stated, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat like there was no further argument.

I looked at Matthew.

"Back me up here."

"One day he'll meet the one woman who will turn his world upside down and that will convert him." He shrugged.

Connor shook his head. "It'll never happen."

Matthew just gave him a knowing smile.

I had never seen Connor with a woman before. It was difficult to imagine him in love with someone. It didn't seem to fit his personality. My eyes moved to Matthew. He was someone I could see committed to a special someone one day.

My eyes dropped to my hands. What did people see when they looked at me? Was I a Connor or a Matthew?

I had two bodyguards for the rest of the evening. Connor sat on one side of me and Matthew on the other. They made sure I never found myself in an awkward position of having to talk to Slater.

There were a few times I felt his eyes on me. A part of me wondered what he was thinking but the part of me that still hurt didn't want to analyze it. I couldn't hold on to the hope that we had a chance of fixing the mess between us. He had made his choice and I needed to respect it even if it was hard to accept.

My eyes stayed on my watch, working out when I could leave without being rude. As happy as I was for Taylor and Sin, being around Slater wasn't easy.

An hour and a half later I decided I was done. My nerves were stretched and even the little alcohol I had drunk hadn't helped.

"You want to go home?" Matthew asked, watching me check my watch again.

"Would you mind?" I asked.

He looked at Slater, who was busy talking to Sin, before nodding his head.

"Sure," he said.

I grabbed my jacket and slid it on while I plastered a smile to my lips to hide the disarray I felt inside. In my peripheral vision, I saw Slater look at me but I refused to make eye contact. I had done better than I had expected but it was time to retreat back to a safe place to recover.

"Take care, Jordan," Connor said, giving me a brief embrace. "I'll call to check up on you soon."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"I need to go," I said to Taylor. She stood and hugged me goodbye.

"I'll call you tomorrow," she said. She understood my need to leave.

"Congrats," I said to Sin before giving him a brief hug.

I made sure not to make eye contact with Slater. If I had been stronger I would have looked him straight in the eye and said goodbye, but I was scared it would make me waver.

Even though he had hurt me, I still loved him too much and I couldn't trust myself around him.