"Can I have a Cosmo, please?" I asked the bartender at Down the Rabbit Hole.
"Coming right up."
After two days of being sad and depressed, I decided to shower and come out of hiding. Well, kind of. I ran out of alcohol. So, here I was.
I thought about calling Wyatt a million times. I went back and forth in my head about what happened. I didn't want to be without him, but I couldn't risk falling even more in love with him if he didn't feel the same way. Or if he couldn't admit it to me.
"Here's your Cosmo."
"Thanks." I took a sip and sighed with contentment. This was better.
Even though I hated being in crowded places, it was nice to be out of my apartment. Being by myself for two days only made me think of Wyatt more. At least here, it seemed easier to be distracted.
Maybe now I wouldn't think about the way he kissed me. Or the way he whispered sweet things in my ear when he made love to me. Yep. I'm not thinking about any of that.
"I'm gonna call him," I said to myself as I pulled my phone out of my purse.
"That's never a good idea."
I frowned before I looked to the left. There was a man I didn't know sitting there, holding what looked a glass of whiskey.
"Excuse me?"
He chuckled and pointed to my Cosmo. "Whenever someone is drinking, and they think it's a good idea to call an ex boyfriend or girlfriend, it's usually not a good idea."
By the tone of his voice, I could tell he's had some experience with this. I studied his profile. He looked vaguely familiar to me; it was like I've seen him somewhere before. And his voice...
"You are the one who told me to come up here, Logan. You are the one who reached out and asked to meet up with me."
Oh. My. God. "I'm sorry, but is your name Grant?"
He turned towards me with suspicion. "Do I know you?"
I was so surprised, I stammered like an idiot. "I'm, uh, Lia--I mean, Amelia."
Understanding dawned on him. "Logan's fiancee?"
I wasn't quite sure how to answer that. To everybody except Logan, Wyatt, and myself, Logan and I were still engaged.
"Yes."
"How the hell did you know who I was?" His tone wasn't angry, it was disbelief and confusion mixed into one.
I looked away; suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable. Grant didn't know I basically knew everything about his and Logan's relationship.
"Well," I looked back over at him, "I know." I was hoping the way I said it, he would understand what I meant.
By his panicked expression, I would say he definitely understood what I meant.
"How? Did Logan tell you?"
"Well...it's kind of a long story." Yeah, that was the biggest understatement of the year.
"I've got nowhere else to be," he said pointedly. Clearly, he wanted information; and he wasn't leaving until he got it.
"Okay." I turned towards him. "First, I saw some text messages on his phone. The name was saved under your first initial. G. I was going to ask him about it, but then I saw you and Logan outside of the lake house." My eyes met his. "In the driveway."
His gaze never broke from mine. "You saw us."
"Yes."
"And you stayed with him?"
Not an accusation. Just a question.
"Well, he wasn't the only one in the wrong." I let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be rough. "You know Wyatt, right?"
Grant frowned. "Yeah. I've met him a few times."
It took me a few minutes before I could tell him the story. Talking about Wyatt, especially right now, wasn't easy.
"I've known Wyatt and Logan since I was six. Wyatt and I have always been best friends. There's no one I trusted more in my life. As we got older, I started to develop feelings for him." I took a sip of my drink. And another...and another. It seemed to help motivate me to keep talking. "We had...a night during senior prom. Then at graduation, I tried to tell him I was in love with him. He got scared and took off to UCLA for four years."
I absently stirred my straw around my cup. Lost in the swirl of different colors. I thought it would kill me to tell this story. But it didn't. Maybe because Grant was more of a...neutral listener. There was also the fact that, besides Logan, Grant was the only person I confided in. It wasn't like Logan was unbiased with the whole thing.
Grant finished his whiskey. "So, what happened next? If you don't mind me asking, of course."
I shook my head absently. "No, it's okay." I tucked my hair behind my ear. "I hadn't seen Wyatt much until he moved back a few weeks ago. When Logan proposed, that's when Wyatt told me how he felt. He said that he had feelings for me this whole time. Since graduation, maybe even before. I was so upset. He lied to me."
"I'm sorry," Grant said earnestly.
"Thanks. After that we—we fooled around a little. I felt so guilty. Wyatt did too. We agreed not to let anything happen; and then..."
"You saw the texts," Grant finished for me.
I nodded. "It turned into more after that."
Grant watched me skeptically. There was uncertainty in his eyes. "Amelia, why are you telling me all this?"
I gave him a half smile. "I know Logan feels guilty about what he did. I felt guilty about what I did. I also have the sneaky feeling that you felt a little guilty, too. You don't have to. I told Logan that I forgave him and I wasn't mad at him. He said the same to me. I think all four of us were just following our...hormones."
Grant's head fell, his blonde hair hanging over his eyes. "I'm sorry, Amelia. I shouldn't have done what I did."
I knew I wasn't supposed to say anything, but it came out anyway. "Logan and I aren't getting married."
Grant's mouth dropped open so far, I'm surprised it didn't hit the floor. "You...aren't getting married?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm in love with Wyatt and Logan is," I glaned away from Grant, "well, you know. He didn't tell you?"
Grant scoffed and turned on the stool, facing the bar. "Logan doesn't tell me much anymore."
I couldn't tell if he was upset or not about that. His tone was level and his expression blank. If I had to guess, I would say it was the former. After all, the way Logan talked about Grant told me it wasn't just a fling.
My voice was low when I asked. "Do you think you and Logan are going to try again?"
The bartender brought him another whiskey and another Cosmo for myself. I sipped mine and he drank his a little too quickly. That at least answered one of my questions. Grant was hurting.
He finally looked at me. "No. Logan and I don't work. Besides," he looked away, "I have—I'm with someone."
He didn't need to tell me it was a woman. Poor Grant. Like Logan, he seemed to be having trouble accepting who he was. I didn't know Grant very well, but I knew Logan. Logan has always been a good judge of character. I knew in my heart that both of these men deserved to me happy. I just wished they new that, too.
Two Hours Later
"Fuck them!" I said over the music in the bar. "You and I don't need those Thorne boys!"
Okay, maybe I was a little drunk right now. I kept asking Grant to join me, but he said he wanted to keep an eye on me. But he told me to drink to my heart's content and he would make sure I got home okay.
He smiled at me. "Is that so?"
I waved my hand. "Yes! Just because Wyatt is the only man I have ever been with, and the fact that him I love, doesn't mean anything." I knew I probably wasn't making any sense, but I went from sad to angry two drinks ago.
'Wait," Grant started, "you and Logan didn't..."
I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop the room from spinning. "No. For me, it never felt right. He wasn't Wyatt."
Silence hung between us and I pulled out my phone and started dialing.
"Who are you calling?"
I held up my finger as the phone rang. "Wyatt? Hey, it's Amelia."
Grant got to his feet. "Hang up!"
I shushed Grant, refusing to do what he said.
"Lia? Where are you? I've been trying to reach you. Are you okay?"
"I am more than okay, Wyatt Thorne. I am drunk and fine and drunk."
Wyatt groaned in frustration on the other end of the line. "Where are you, Lia? I'm coming to get you."
I laughed into the phone. "No, you're not! I am having a lovely time with this very attractive blonde man who promised to take me home safely."
I glanced at Grant who shook his head disapprovingly.
"Lia, I'm sorry about what happened. Can we just talk about this?"
I sighed heavily. "Enough talking. I'm gonna go now. Bye, Wyatt."
I hung up and turned to Grant. "What?"
"You know he's definitely coming now, right?"
I opened my mouth to tell him there was no chance in hell...then it dawned on me. I basically told Wyatt that I was wasted at a bar with some random guy who said he was taking me home. Yeah, he was definitely coming for me.
"Well, fuck!"
Grant laughed and drank some of his water. "Told you. Drunk dialing never ends well."