Free Without You by Julie Prestsater

punched in the gut if you wanted to find the kind that lasted. The kind of love Genna and Luke had, and I’m not sure how much more of a beating I could take.
    Digging my fists into the sofa, I sprang to my feet and grabbed the bowl he had left behind. Then, I walked to the kitchen, talking to myself the entire way.
    What sort of man listens to a gooey love song and decides he wants more, so he dumps his girlfriend? Was I not good enough for him, after all? God only knows, I tried. What the hell is wrong with him? What the hell is wrong with me that I am asking all of these stupid questions? I need a drink. I need to throw this god-awful ice cream in the bin and make a cocktail. Thankfully, Genna left the good stuff behind, the vodka and the ice cream—without nuts. Just wish me the best and I’ll do the same for you. What the hell?
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    E VAN
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    M y cell rang three more times before I decided to answer. It was my manager. I had already let it go to voicemail four times and I bet he was getting pissed off. “What’s up, Sam?”
    “It’s about fucking time you answer your phone. Have you listened to any of my messages?” His bark was worse than his bite. He could curse at me all he wanted. If it made him feel better for the time being, then so be it. It wasn’t like he was going to ground me or something.
    “Yeah. I did and I don’t have time to do anything right now. My best friend is getting married and I’m up to my eyeballs in friggin’ wedding checklists.” I flipped through the pictures Luke dropped by earlier.
    “Wedding checklists? I thought you were the best man, not the mother of the bride. Come on, Evan. Don’t do this to me. This wedding is huge and they are willing to pay you any amount to sing for their first dance.”
    Like I was supposed to care that some Oscar award-winning actor wanted me to sing at his wedding. “My own friends haven’t even asked me to sing on their big day and you want me to sing at something so personal for people I don’t know?” Of course he did. “I’m tied up right now. I can’t fly to some private beach in Fiji when my friends need me.”
    “They need you?” he questioned, the sarcasm thick in his tone. “All the best man is supposed to do is plan the bachelor party. We all know you got that covered. What else are you doing?”
    I didn’t appreciate the dig that I could plan a bachelor party in my sleep. Any man could. It wasn’t just me. “I have to put together a slide show of pictures for the rehearsal dinner.” A picture of Maddy and Genna in high school stared back at me from the box on my coffee table. They were so close, even then. Always laughing and having a good time. I picked it up, studying their wild hair and innocent smiles. Genna was giving Maddy a piggy-back ride. Too be young again. I would have taken those days back in a heartbeat.
    “Overnight them to the office and Isabelle will do it.”
    My eyes rolled back in my head. “No. I’m not going to pass off something they asked me to do. That would be rude. For the last three years, I’ve had people doing everything for me but wipe my ass. I don’t want to do that anymore. If my best friend asked me to do something, I’m going to do it myself.”
    “By yourself?”
    “Excuse me?” I asked.
    “Are you making the slide show by yourself? Who is helping you?” There he went. Questioning me again. Whenever I came back home, Sam would unleash a fury of questions on me. I knew him well enough to know he was curious about Maddy. It’s not as if I hid my feelings for her from him. He knew how I felt. I think he had always been worried that I might not get back on the bus, but he never come right out and said so.
    It was going to come out eventually. Sam wasn’t an idiot. “No. Madison is going to help me.”
    He huffed into the phone. A long deep breath in and out sounded in my ear like a 747. “I should have known there was more to that