Page 103 of Whiskey and Regret

“Oh my god, Evander. Fuck me!” I whined as my orgasm thickened and turned fluid at my core. It was lava churning inside. It came spilling out when he pressed his teeth against my other nipple.

I climaxed without objection. He came right after me exploding. Throbbing.

“Shit, girl…” He breathed, against my open mouth.

“You said you wouldn’t!” The voice smacked into me like a fucking bat.

Frankie.

I scrambled off Evander and looked to the bedroom door. Frankie stood there with tears in her big brown eyes. Evander grabbed a blanket to cover himself while I hurried to slip my arms into my straps.

“Frank, I…”

“Don’t call me that. Don’t call me anything! You lied to me!” Each word was an icepick in my heart. She rushed out of the bedroom and I ran after her but she was quicker than me. She disappeared through the door joining my suite with her and Evander’s.

The door slammed with a thud in my face. I jumped at the sound, my chest heaving. Needles dug beneath my skin and heat burned my cheeks.

“Fuck!” Evander growled, rounding the corner. His shirt was still un-tucked. His eyes were a mixture of pain and regret. I hoped the regret wasn’t because of us. That would break my heart.

“I’m gonna talk to her,” he sighed, sliding his hands down his face.

“I’ll come, I said. My entire body was vibrating with adrenaline.

“No…just let me do this, Xari.” When he disappeared through the door too, I felt alone and heavy with guilt.

I should have talked to Frankie about how I felt about her father at least a little bit. Maybe enough to let her know I thought he was fine.

Something.

The girl had no idea Evander and I were even attracted to each other. I knew she was hurting and I wanted to wrap my arms around her and apologize. I needed to explain how complicated shit like this was. I wanted to beg her to forgive me.

After a few minutes ticked by, I moved from my spot in front of the adjoining door and sat quietly on the couch in the sitting room. My posture was loose and my face held no expression. Everything on me felt too heavy. I was stuck underwater with no way out.

I couldn’t feel like this before my performance. It would be awful. I’d have no way of connecting to anything I played because my thoughts would be on Frankie. I had to try talking to her at least. I only had twenty minutes before I had to set up and forty-five minutes before the wedding began.

I tried to use the joining door but it was locked from the other side. I knocked a few times and waited. After what seemed like forever but was probably only seconds, Evander opened the door. His face still told the story of conflict.

“She’s not speaking to me,” he said. Desperation sifted through his words. “She locked herself in the bathroom, called me disgusting and now she won’t come out. How the fuck did I let this happen, Xari?” I stepped into the room and rubbed his back.

“You didn’t do it by yourself, Evander.” I wrapped my arms timidly around him to see if he’d hug me back. When he returned my squeeze, I pushed out a pent-up breath. “Let me try talking to her.” I wrung my hands and moved to the bathroom. I felt every ounce of tension bleeding through the closed door.

“Frankie?” I knocked and pressed my ear to the door.

“Leave me alone. I don’t ever want to talk to you again.” I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to sidestep the blow. It still caught me though.

“Well, that’s not how best friends work,” I told her.

“Yeah. I know. We’re not best friends though.”

Another blow.

“Please open the door so we can talk. I’m sorry you walked in on that.”

Nothing.

Silence.

Ice.