Page 73 of Pretty Little Scars

“We heard you,” Jules says. “Is there anything in your contract that forbids you from any fraternization with coworkers?”

“No.”

“Then that’s not a valid excuse. What else?” Ivy asks.

“Aside from the fact that I’m broken?” I take a swig from my bottle and clear my throat. “I ... you guys, he’s seen everything there is to see, inside and out, and he hasn’t run away yet.”

Again, they’re quiet as they watch me.

“Did you expect him to?” Harper asks softly.

“Yes. Of course. I have scars, not just on my body but in my heart and soul, and it’s a lot to handle.I’ma lot to handle. I’m too much.”

“Oh, fuck that,” Ava says, shaking her head. “You’re not too much. If my brother, or anyone else for that matter, thinks that, they can go find less. Don’t get me wrong, I understand where you’re coming from, but Tucker has his own laundry list of issues.”

“I know,” I murmur.

“Ava’s right,” Ivy says softly. “You’re not too much at all. If he’s still interested, it means that he doesn’t think so either. And unless he says otherwise, you have to believe that he’s happy with you, just as you are.”

“Trust me, he’d tell you if he wasn’t,” Harper adds. “Tucker may be laid back and chill, but he’s not a pushover. He says it pretty much like it is.”

“Good. Iwantthat. I don’t want him to continue something with me just because we’re working together and it would be uncomfortable for him if he cut it off.”

“That’s not how Tuck thinks,” Ava assures me. “Enjoy him. I saw the way he looked at you today, like you hung the freaking moon. Soak that shit up. It’s not common.”

The conversation shifts to lighter topics, and I drink my way through two more beers before I discover that Ireallyneed to use the restroom.

“Be back,” I say as I hop off my stool. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Right back there,” Ava says, pointing back past the pool tables, and I head that way. “Wait! I need to pee too.”

“Me too,” I hear Harper say. “I always have to pee these days.”

“I’ll save seats,” Jules says.

With that decided, the three of us make our way back to the restrooms. I have to admit, now that my legs are moving, I’m a little stumbly.

And a lot numb.

My lips are tingly, my legs ... I think I still have legs.Shit, do I still have legs?

“I guess I’m a cheap date now,” I say as I squat in the stall to pee. Ava smirks next to me.

“You had five beers, Darbs.”

“I had three.”

“No, sweetie, you hadfive,” Harper says. “Ivy just kept the drinks coming.”

“Thank God I don’t have to drive back,” I mutter and then flush the toilet and stagger my way to the sink to wash my hands.

I only miss the soap dispenser twice.

“So wasted,” Ava whispers next to me. “I don’t remember the last time I got this drunk.”

“I ’member mine,” I tell her as I dry my hands. “When my piece-of-shit dad died. I gotso drunk.”

“As you should have,” Harper replies with a nod and opens the door for us to walk back out to the bar.