“We sent photos! I just remembered. Lots of them!”
“To who?” Aiyanna asked then clutched her chest when the memory of sending Nathan photos came to her.
“Scott confessed that Josh has always been secretly jealous of you. Of me.” Sam raced around the room, searching for something. “He said Josh makes sarcastic remarks all the time about him having threesomes with us and stuff. So we sent him photos of us doing stupid shit. All of us hugging and kissing.”
“Oh my God.” Aiyanna gasped, ignoring her pounding head and scrambling out of the bed. “Scott, wake up!” she said loudly as she searched the bottom drawer of her nightstand for clean underwear then turned to Sam, who was still rushing around the room, searching under things. “What are you looking for?”
“Our phones!” She picked up a sweatshirt from a chair in the corner and threw it when there was nothing under it. “We took a lot, Anna. Bad stuff. Stuff we need to delete, and I wanna make sure my drunk ass didn’t post any to my Facebook or Instagram!”
“God, no!” Aiyanna finished slipping on her underwear then turned to Scott. “Scott! Get up!”
Scott finally sat up, appearing just as dazed and in pain as Aiyanna and Sam did when they first woke “What the hell?” he asked, glancing down at his naked bottom half.
“Anna, here!” Aiyanna turned to Sam just in time to catch the phone she tossed at her. “Start deleting. I gotta go get some underwear on.”
Sam’s shirt was long enough that Aiyanna hadn’t even noticed she was still running around au natural. She tapped her security code in then nearly dropped her phone when she saw the text preview of Nathan’s latest text.
What the fuck is this?
The knot at her throat was instant, and she was almost afraid to open the message and see what he was talking about. Then she did and felt faint when she saw the photo of her on the bed with Scott lying on top of her. Before she could even react or try to come up with some kind of explanation, the pounding at the front door had her clutching her chest again.
“Anna, open up.”
Nathan’s voice boomed all the way through the house. This was a nightmare. “I’ll stall him,” Sam said, running past her bedroom door and toward the front room.
“Don’t let him in yet!” Anna called out then turned to Scott. “Get up. Get out of my room.”
Scott stood up but could barely stand straight then fell back onto the bed. “Holy shit,” he said, holding his head as his whole body seemed to sway even as he sat.
He turned to her, blinking like he was trying to focus his eyes. Aiyanna’s eyes pleaded with him despite how dazed he seemed. “You have to—”
“What the fuck?”
Aiyanna nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Nathan’s loud voice in such close proximity. He was standing at the doorway of her bedroom with the strangest expression on his face. Then he turned to Scott, who was still sitting on her bed—wearing no underwear.
Shaking her head as the tears began to blur her vision, Aiyanna tried to think of something to say—anything—but couldn’t come up with a single word.
“Did you . . .? “Nathan’s eyes turned to Scott; then he turned back to her. “Did you sleep with—?”
Aiyanna shook her head adamantly but couldn’t actually assure him she hadn’t because she didn’t remember a damn thing about this.
“Then why—?”
“I don’t know!” were the first words she managed to cry, and she took a step toward him, but he backed up, holding his hand up for her to stop.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” His first inquiry had been a near whisper, but this one was so much louder “What about all the photos you sent me of you two nearly touching tongues and shit?” His voice got louder with every word he said, and it had Aiyanna openly crying now. “And the one of him on top of you—”
“She doesn’t remember!” Scott said loudly.
That’s when Nathan charged at him. “Fuck you, asshole!”
Nathan landed one good one to Scott’s eye before Aiyanna could try and come between them. “Nathan, stop, please!” She pleaded in tears as she tried in vain to pull him off Scott, who’d fallen back on the bed, covering his head.
Sam was in there now too, trying to grab ahold of Nathan’s other arm. It wasn’t until Scott made a gagging noise that Nathan backed up the tiniest bit. Then Scott leaned over the side of the bed and threw up. Again and again.
“Did you fuck him?” Nathan barked at Aiyanna. She shook her head but still couldn’t assure him with all certainty that she hadn’t. “Then what happened?” he demanded. “What about those fucking pictures you sent me? Explain those.”
“I can’t.” She sobbed. “I don’t remember.”
“Then how do you remember you didn’t fuck him?”
“I don’t,” she finally had to admit. “I don’t remember anything.”
His enraged expression waned instantly, and his brows pinched over his now glistening eyes. “Really?”
The pain in that one little word and the strangled way it came out, had Aiyanna sobbing into her hands in unimaginable shame and sorrow. By the time she was able to gather herself to look at him again, he was gone. A few minutes later, she heard the roar of his Harley outside then him skidding away.
Chapter 25: Digging Deeper
Aiyanna
It had been a week now since the horrific day Nathan walked out on Aiyanna. She still had no answers about what happened that night. She now regretted deleting all the pictures as she did in a crazed outrage with herself. Now she couldn’t even search the photos for clues of what might’ve triggered such a blackout of the night’s events. They’d all drank before, and none had ever experienced anything like this. But the huge tequila bottle Sam had bought that night was all but gone the next morning, so that explained a lot.
Heidi had been appalled and surprised no one was rushed to the hospital with alcohol poisoning. She’d also rushed over almost immediately to be by Aiyanna’s side after hearing her inconsolable sobbing over the phone.
Nathan’s family had all made it very clear what they thought of her now. Anyone associated with him who she’d befriended on social media unfriended her, stopped following her, and probably blocked her phone number the way Nathan had. His family turning their backs on her hurt almost as bad as Nathan’s rejection of her. Aiyanna had gotten really close to his sisters. Now they probably hated her and lost all respect for her for what she’d done to Nathan. And she didn’t even blame them.
Worst of all, Aiyanna wasn’t sure if she could—should—trust her two best friends anymore. Both Sam and Scott had since spoken to her privately. Each one sort of pointed the finger at the other. While Sam still couldn’t remember much more than Aiyanna could, she did say she remembered taking a few of the photos of Aiyanna and Scott pretending to be into each other, and she’d been almost alarmed at how into it he’d gotten.
Scott, on the other hand, assured her Josh had never once said anything negative about his friendship with either her or Sam. So Sam saying he’d told them that he was jealous of them didn’t make any sense.
None of it made sense to Aiyanna.
Why in the world, drunk or not, would she take off her panties in bed for anyone else but Nathan? Even if they were just trying to piss Josh off, what was the point of all three of them being naked? None of those photos were sent to anyone, not even Josh, who, oddly enough, had a much different reaction to the photos than Nathan had. His response to Scott had been, “Like I’d ever believe that,” which totally backed Scott’s statement about Josh not being jealous of her.
If it weren’t for school and work, Aiyanna was sure she would’ve stayed in bed all week as she had the entire weekend after the incident. Nathan blocked her almost immediately, so there was no sense in trying to grovel. She wouldn’t even know what to say to him. There was nothing she could say that might make this better. Because even if she knew in her heart she’d never willingly betray him like
that, people do things when they’re drunk that they normally wouldn’t do. The fact also remained neither she nor Scott could rule out that they hadn’t done anything more.
With Scott still refusing to talk to Josh and Aiyanna beyond brokenhearted and still hating herself for having hurt Nathan, Sam put together another “girls” night to try and cheer them up—minus the booze. This time Heidi was in attendance.
“Okay,” Heidi asked as they passed around the containers of Chinese food they ordered. “Now that you’ve all had a week to let this simmer, I gotta ask. What the hell were you guys thinking?”
Scott passed Aiyanna the box with the pork fried rice, and she started crying. Heidi was quickly at her side, hugging her. “Alright, alright. Too soon. I’m sorry.”
Aiyanna shook her head, wiping away at the tears with a napkin. “It’s not that. It’s just that the last time I had Chinese takeout was on that beautifully romantic night Nathan put together for me. Not just him but his sisters and sisters-in-law. My God, what they all must think of me now.”
“If they’re smart women and from what you told me they sound like they are,” Heidi said, pulling strands of hair away from Aiyanna’s face, “then they know every story has two sides. Just because you don’t remember yours doesn’t mean you don’t have one.” She turned to Scott. “You two still don’t know what happened that night?”
“And we may never,” Sam said with a sigh. “I don’t know about you two, but I’ve had a few flashbacks here and there, but nothing that makes any sense or explains how we all ended up without our underpants.”
“Why did you let him in that morning?” Scott asked.
Heidi and Aiyanna turned and stared at Scott, who was staring at Sam. Sam was in the midst of sticking a fork full of food in her mouth when she stopped and lifted her eyebrow at him.
“Anna asked you not to,” he said in a demanding tone so unlike him. “And you said you’d stall him.”
Sam chewed quickly then wiped her mouth. “He barged in. Don’t you remember how pissed he was even when he was knocking. The moment I opened the door he stormed past me. Why?” Her brows furrowed as she peered at him. “You think I let him in on purpose so he could catch you two together in the bedroom? Why hadn’t you gotten your naked ass out of the bed, Scott?”
“Because I was dizzy as shit. And another thing, I would’ve never said Josh was jealous of you two because he’s never said that to me.”
“It’s what you said that night, Scott,” Sam shot back. “The details are fuzzy, but I remember it was how all those photos of us with you got started.”
“That’s bullshit—”
“Stop,” Aiyanna said, holding up her hand, still sniffling. “I don’t want you two arguing over this, okay? What’s done is done. I have no one to blame but myself. Even if miraculously I could remember exactly what happened that night, bottom line is Scott and I woke up in bed naked. There’s no denying that part. If you two knew Nathan as I do, you’d know in his eyes that’s just as bad.”
She scrunched her face in an effort to not break down again as Nathan’s words from so long ago at the cabin came to her suddenly. Even if you just shared the bed and assured me he hadn’t touched you, I’d probably lose my shit anyway.
Nathan had photographic proof that Scott hadn’t just shared a bed with her. Her stupid drunk ass had sent him the photos of Scott and her practically French kissing and him lying on top of her.
Suddenly, Sam was sniffling, and they all turned to her. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Aiyanna asked, feeling terrible about turning this pity party into a cry fest. “I just told you—”
“You weren’t even gonna drink that night.” Sam’s lip quivered. “You didn’t want to and I insisted.”
“I did too,” Scott added, sounding less severe than he had earlier, and wore a remorseful frown now.
“And I agreed of my own free will,” Aiyanna said, shaking her head. “No one forced me to. So there’s no sense in trying to point fingers now. None of this is gonna take back what happened. I’ll wallow over this for a little bit longer; then I’ll go back to my life the way it was before Nathan.”
She glanced down at the box of pork fried rice, desperately trying to hold it together. This entire last week had been utter torture. She hadn’t gone a single day yet without crying, all-out sobbing most of those times. From here on, she’d have to resort to doing so on her drives to and from work and in the shower. She didn’t want her two best friends arguing or feeling guilty over her depression. Now she really understood from the other side of the spectrum why people needed therapists. As much as she’d hate to have to do it, if she didn’t start feeling better anytime soon, she’d have to make an appointment to see one. She knew all too well the dangers of depression. In spite of her friends and sister trying to help her get through this, it felt like this was just the beginning. The more the reality of what she’d lost set in, the harder it was to make it through the day without falling apart.
~*~
Nathan
No psychological issues. No police record. No history of violence. No real proof of promiscuity other than Scott dated a lot before he’d met Josh—all guys. No proof of him buying any drugs recently. Ones he could’ve used to drug Anna. Nothing. The guy was as clean as they came. Moe had warned him that with Scott being a coach and high school teacher he likely had to be.
This was frustrating as shit. Nathan had hoped to find something on the guy. It had been almost two weeks now since he’d last seen or talked to Anna. His heart had never hurt so much in his life. Nathan felt almost ashamed about it. He was hurting for a girl who’d practically admitted to fucking someone else.
Something inside him just wouldn’t let him move on from this. He knew deep in his shattered heart that he should. Nathan wanted to fucking hate her. Condemn her as a whore. Just another bitch he should move on from.
But he knew better.
That’s not who she was. She’d looked as tormented about this that morning as he’d been ever since. Nathan hadn’t even told anyone the whole truth about their breakup for fear they’d condemn her, especially his siblings, who’d be quick to jump into protective mode. The tiniest of hope he still held onto that somehow this was salvageable kept him from being completely honest with them.
Unlike his brothers, who were good with his explanation of, “It just didn’t work out,” his sisters of course hadn’t bought it. They asked the tougher questions. “What happened? Why? You two seemed so happy.” And worst yet, “What did you do?”
His very watered-down version of what really happened was that from the beginning he’d suspected Scott might have feelings for her that went beyond just a friendship. That recently she’d been acting strange, and like Xavier’s ex, she’d admitted to being confused, and Nathan wasn’t having it.
They both thought he was being too harsh. That maybe the girl just needed some time to think it through. Not just get dumped. Regardless of their opinions on the situation he painted for them, he made them promise to remove her from any social media and cut all ties with her.
“I don’t wanna hear any secondhand gossip or anything about what she may or may not be up to. I’m through with her.”
The only good thing about his sisters not letting things go so easily and always being up in his business was what happened a week later. He’d stopped by Alex and Valerie’s for one of the family’s monthly birthday parties. He’d just sat down at the table with both sisters and their husbands. Liv was immediately on it. “Heads up. I know it’s way too soon, but I mentioned to Valerie why Anna won’t be here today when she asked about her. All I said was that things hadn’t worked out with you two. She didn’t say she’d be introducing you, but she did mention her friend Lucy would be here today and she’d be glad to hear you’re available now. I guess she’s mentioned how hot she thinks you are.”
“Who’s this?” Emi asked, smirking curiously.
“Valerie’s friend f
rom her office. The IT girl.” Liv turned back to Nathan with a pout. “I guess she wasn’t imagining it the day she said Scott had flirted with her.”
“Wait. Lucy?” Emi asked, exchanging glances with her husband. “The one with the laugh that makes you wanna stick a fork in your eardrum?”
“Em!” Liv said, glancing around as both Sydney and Lorenzo laughed. “That’s not nice,” she said, swatting at Lorenzo. “Yes, she laughs a little . . . differently. But she’s nice.”
“Oh my God! She’s a psycho,” Em said then laughed. “And I’m not just saying so because they tried fixing her up with Sydney way back either. She really was. Tell ’em, babe.”
Sydney shook his head. “Leave me out of this. I’m not talking shit about someone I barely remember. But I do remember the laugh.”
His eyes went wide and he shook his head at Nathan in warning. As if Nathan would be able to even think of another girl any time soon. Em went on to tell the story of how they’d tried setting Lucy up with Sydney. “That was right around the time I was just beginning to admit to myself I was falling for Sydney, so of course I immediately hated her.”
“That’s right!” Liv said, her eyes brightening with excitement. “I forgot all about that. She is the same girl from that day way back when you were sitting there staring daggers at her and Sydney.”
“Was she?” Sydney sat up straighter, smiling big. “You never told me that.”
“Anyway,” Em went on, ignoring Sydney. “I found out as soon as I had a moment alone with him that he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.” She turned to Sydney. “Remember that?”
Sydney smiled with a nod but didn’t elaborate. Em told about how pushy and delusional the girl was. “He never even gave her his number. The psycho had it before she even met him. And Valerie hadn’t given it to her either.”
Em explained they never actually told Valerie about how persistent her friend had been and that’s probably why she’d still even consider setting her up with someone she knows. Liv seconded that, saying Valerie really felt for Lucy because she’d been alone for so long.