It’s Ava and Dillyn’s last weekend in Tuscaloosa before they move to Austin. There’s no way I’d let my besties leave without spending time with them, but I feel so guilty for leaving Porter behind to deal with clusterfuck.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go with me?”
“I like Ava and Dillyn but this should be a girls’ weekend.”
“They won’t mind if you come. I promise.”
“It’s okay. I haven’t done anything with Tap and Stout in a while. Maybe I’ll get together with them.”
It’s been two weeks since Charlotte’s last stunt. We’re due for another shenanigan at any time. “I’m a little afraid of what clusterfuck will try to pull while I’m gone.”
“Don’t worry. I can handle anything she throws my way.”
Charlotte is a special kind of crazy. There’s definitely something off in her head, but I’ve not yet figured out what it is.
“Come here.” Porter lowers the tailgate of his pickup and lifts me to sit on it. He steps between my legs and I wrap them and my arms around him tightly. “Mmm… damn, girl. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I want you to see your friends before they go, but I hate being away from you this weekend. I’m fucking addicted to you.”
“I know the feeling.”
I should be getting on the road to beat the Friday afternoon traffic, but I don’t want to release my hold on Porter.
“Watch it, boss.” Porter and I turn at the same time to see my dad coming out of the brewery. “Daddies don’t like seeing their little girls make out.”
“You know what, Scott? You’ve called me boss for the past five years, but it suddenly feels like I’m the one who should be calling you boss.”
My dad points to the warehouse. “In there, you’re the boss.” He points to me. “When it comes to my baby girl, I’m the boss.”
“I think we can agree on that one.”
“Your mama said you’ll be gone for the weekend.”
“I’m going down to see Ava and Dillyn before they leave.”
“I guess I’d be moving you to Texas next week if this guy hadn’t swept you off your feet.” My dad points to us. “I’m not disappointed this is happening, especially since it’s keeping my baby home where she belongs.”
Porter squeezes me. “Don’t worry. I’m keeping this girl right here with me. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Be careful and tell Ava and Dillyn to not be strangers.”
“I will. See ya, Dad.”
Porter helps me off the tailgate and pulls me into his arms. “Have a good time with your girls.”
“Always do.” It’s impossible not to have a good time with those two. I’m going to miss them terribly.
* * *
Ava’s curling her hair and Dillyn is applying makeup when I arrive at the apartment. I guess that means we’re going out.
Ava looks at my Lovibond T-shirt and denim shorts. “I hope you brought something besides that to wear.”
“I came straight from work. Of course, I brought something else to wear.”
“Good, because we are going to par… tay tonight.”
Dillyn tugs my hair. “Hope it’s okay if Brendon comes.”
I was hoping for a girls’ night, but I don’t mind Dillyn’s brother going with us. He’s sort of like one of the girls anyway.
“And Chad’s coming too.”
Well, hell. I would have brought Porter for sure if I’d known this was going to turn into a group thing.
“Where are we going?”
“Anywhere we can get drunk and dance our asses off.”
There was a time when I’d have been super excited about those kinds of plans but not so much now that I’m with Porter. I get far more excited about hanging out with him at his condo.
Damn. Have I become domestic?
The taxi drops us at a bar we’ve been to no less than a million times. “I haven’t been here in months but looks like nothing’s changed.”
“New semester. New faces.”
Yeah. And most of them younger than us.
I prefer my older man. These guys look like they should be drinking beer from a sippy cup.
We luck out and lay claim on an abandoned table. “We could sit here all night waiting on a waitress to come around. Go get us some drinks, Brendon.”
“Ever hear of the word please?”
“Pleeease,” Dillyn says.
Chad goes with Brendon to the bar and I’m glad; I want to talk to Ava. “How are things going with Chad?”
“Good, but apparently not good enough since he didn’t ask me to stay. I think this was just a summer fling for him.”
I know she must be disappointed. “There’s still time. You have the weekend to convince him it’s more.”
Dillyn punches my arm. “Don’t encourage her to flake on moving. I can’t go to Austin by myself.”
“It’s been fun. The sex has been one to two levels above mediocre. But I don’t think it’s the real thing. Not like what you have with Porter.”
Dillyn nods. “I expected you to bring him.”
I wish I had. “He wanted me to have fun with y’all.”
“I’m so glad he’s not one of those possessive assholes,” Dillyn says.
“Oh, he’s very possessive… but in the hottest way.”
“Is the sex still good?” Ava asks.
“Phenomenal.”
“You need to hang on to that one.”
“I am. We’re talking about getting married.”
Dillyn’s eyes nearly bug out of her head. “Shut the fuck up. When?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t proposed, but he told my dad they’d be having the talk soon.”
“He plans on asking your dad first. That’s so sweet. Is he okay with you being with his boss?”
“Yeah. He likes Porter a lot. They’ve always sort of been boss-employee-friends.”
Brendon and Chad return to the table. “White for you. Red for you. And a mule for you.”
“We have to make a toast.”
“Here’s to never letting distance come between us.”
“Good one.”
“To frequent flyer miles.”
“Another good one.”
“To the two best friends… I’ve ever had.” I choke up on the last part, and Ava and Dillyn come around the table to hug me.
“We’re still going to see each other.”
“That’s right. Porter will propose soon, and we’ll come back for your engagement party.”
“And of course, we’re going to be your bridesmaids. We’ll be back so we can pull all kinds of shenanigans before the wedding.”
“I know. It’s just sad seeing you leave; I never had good friends before the two of you.”
Ava picks up my Moscow Mule and holds it to my mouth. “Drink. Tonight is about a good time. No more of this crying shit.”
And that’s what we do.
Drink.
* * *
Two nights of partying with Ava and Dillyn have kicked my ass. I feel like I need to lie down and sleep for a week.
Frankee: On my way back.
Porter: Come by and see me before you go home.
Frankee: Ok
As per my routine, I go inside Porter’s without knocking. It’s as though his place is becoming my home as well. “Porter?”
I find him on the couch in the living room, an angry scowl on his face. “Hey.”
He doesn’t reply.
“What’s wrong?”
He points to a stack of photos on the table. “That’s what’s wrong.”
“What are those?”
“I don’t know. You take a look and tell me what the fuck those are.”
I pick up the photos and thumb through them.
Brendon kissing the side of my face.
Brendon hugging me from behind.
Brendon and I dancing.
This is creepy. “Where did these come from?”
“Charlotte hand-delivered them to me this morning—with a huge fucking smile on her face.”
“These pictures are from this weekend. How in the world did she get her hands on photos of Brendon and me?”
“His name is Brendon?”
“Yeah. That’s Dillyn’s little brother. He goes to Alabama. He went out with us.”
“He’s kissing and hugging and dancing with you.”
“That’s just Brendon. It’s how he is. He’d have acted no differently if you’d been there with me.”
“I fucking doubt that.”
“I’m not lying. There’s nothing between Brendon and me. We’re just friends.”
“Those pictures say otherwise.” Porter’s raising his voice at me. He’s never done that before.
“This is ridiculous.” I take out my phone and go to Instagram. “Look at his profile and tell me what it says.”
Porter looks at it and a big wrinkle forms across his brow.
“Read the profile out loud.”
“Gay as fuck.”
“Yeah. And that ain’t no lie.”
Porter rubs his hand over his scruff. “Fuck. I’m sorry, baby.”
“I’m not upset that you got pissed off by these pictures. If I saw you hugging and kissing on some girl in photos, I’d get mad too. But I am hugely disturbed by the fact that Charlotte has photos of me from this weekend. That means she wasn’t at her house on bed rest like her doctor ordered. She was out risking the welfare of the baby so she could follow me in an effort to get evidence that would make you leave me. That’s fucked up. And I think we need to go to the authorities.”
“What are they going to do? She hasn’t broken any laws.”
“Yet. There needs to be a formal complaint for the records. You don’t know what’s going to happen with her down the road. If she turns out to be an unfit mother, you can’t let that baby stay with her. We already know she’s crazy. And if you have to pursue custody, you’ll need some kind of record of her putting the baby’s safety at risk.”
“I don’t want custody.”
“I don’t either, but you can’t let an innocent baby stay with a crazy woman.”
“This hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper.”
“And she’s not even close to being done with us.”