Free RECKLESS - Part 4 (The RECKLESS Series) by Alice Ward

disappointment must have been evident on my face because, when I reached the spot where she stood outside of her car in the terminal pick-up area, she had an eyebrow quirked and a hand on her hip.
    “That’s how you greet your best friend that you haven’t seen in over a week?” she asked, her pierced lips pulled into a scowl.
    “Sorry, Becca,” I mumbled, pulling my rolling luggage bag behind me. I tossed it into the trunk of her car and then climbed into the passenger seat, trying really hard not to let my over-reactive brain take over. He was probably just dealing with band stuff, taking care of some last minute things before I got back on campus. He must have just wanted to make sure that we’d have uninterrupted time once I landed and things must have bled over a bit.
    But nothing would quiet my head. Nothing could stop me from chewing away at the tender flesh of my cheek or stop my leg from bouncing up and down as I thought of all the things that could have gone wrong, the reasons he might have failed to show up.
    When Becca climbed into the driver’s seat next to me, she shot me a quick look. “What the hell is wrong with you, woman?” she asked, putting the car into drive. She started to pull out but the slammed on the brakes to avoid getting hit by a car speeding through the terminal pick up. A horn blared at us. She laid on the horn and blared right back and then stuck her finger out the window to give the guy a middle finger.
    She was pissed and I was a heart palpitation away from a heart attack.
    Anything could happen.
    “Jesus, people need to learn how to fucking drive,” she muttered, looking over her shoulder once more before pulling out into traffic. “Now, what the fuck is going on with you? You’re not even excited to see me. Are you still pissed over the wedding thing?”
    “No—well, yes. I am, but not for the reason you think,” I said, rubbing my temples. “I’m happy for you two, genuinely, truly. But you should have waited for me. I wanted to be there. I should have been in my best friend’s wedding.”
    “Y—You what?” she looked at me like I’d suddenly turned into some sort of alien. “Wanted to be there? I thought you’d be pissed at me because I’d married some guy on a whim, which—for the record—isn’t just some guy. He’s—oh—wait until I tell you everything. Andy, you’re going to just love him. I promise.”
    I placed my hand on her shoulder. “You love him, and that’s what matters.” I’d meant it, every last word. But my voice sounded so horribly deflated.
    “Andy, what’s wrong?” Becca asked, shooting me a quick glance before turning onto the highway. “I mean, I couldn’t be more relieved that you understand, but... I’ve never heard you like this. Seen you like this. You’re so—“
    “Tired,” I said, cutting her off to stare out the window.
    I was worrying for nothing. Absolutely, positively nothing. Because, if there was something to worry about, my best friend wouldn’t be going on about her wedding, or her new husband. She’d tell me. She would come right out and give me the details. Because that’s who she was. And so, rather than feed the monster in my head any longer, I sat back and closed my eyes, let myself drift off until we arrived on campus.
    Unfortunately, my disappointment only grew when we got to the dorms. I still hadn’t seen or heard from Jace. I would have thought he’d be there, excited to see me, wrapping me in the arms I’d missed so very, very much. Instead, I came back to a dark and empty dorm and an overexcited best friend who couldn’t seem to shut up about her crazy whirlwind romance.
    Maybe I was just jealous, but I wanted nothing more than to just hide under the covers instead of sit there and listen to her tell me—again—what the dress looked like, or how he’d written a special vow for her (how you write vows about someone you barely know is beyond me). But, since it was clear that she wasn’t