Free Fight 2 by M Dauphin Page B

hotel this morning so I plug it in before starting to unpack. I hate traveling, because no matter how long I’m gone, I always have a shit ton of laundry to do when I return. Sighing, I take the laundry basket to the machine to start a load, then head over to the table where my soda and phone sit, waiting for me. Turning on my phone, the usual startup noises ping and then the notifications start.
    “Goddammit,” I say, just as my Facebook notifications skyrocket.
    Opening up the app, I see that a ton of my friends have commented on pictures I was tagged in. I didn’t upload anything this weekend, no one even knows I was in Vegas, other than...
    “Shit, Jase.”
    Clicking on the photo that has over a hundred comments, my stomach drops when I see a photo of me and Eddie in the chapel that Molly and Tatum got married at. I’m smiling, holding Molly’s flowers for her, and Eddie is looking at me with so much love I’m not sure how I ever questioned his feelings for me. The caption under the picture says ‘wedding weekend in Vegas!’, and I have so many comments I don’t know where to begin. All of them stating some form of congratulations, some of them questioning if I was drunk, some of them commenting on the hot man I’m with. Mother fucking Jase. He had to be the one to do this, he was the only one there that I knew, and I KNOW I didn’t take any pictures this weekend.
    Exiting out of the app without any response to the hundreds of comments, I call Jase and it goes straight to voicemail.
    “Mother fucker!” I yell.
    My phone rings in my hands as I’m staring at that damn picture, but instead of Jase it’s Mac.
    “What?” I snap at him. Last time I saw him he was a total asshole to me, and I’m still not over it.
    “I need you to come in tomorrow, girl. Noon.” His voice was low, angry almost.
    “Fine.” I end the call and sit at my table, letting the silence wrap around me.
    A few weeks ago, the amount of frustration I’m feeling tonight would have been enough to make me run to the ring, or down the street to Dave. Now, though, all I can think about is Eddie, and how wonderful one of his hugs would be right about now. Deciding to leave the Jase shit for tomorrow, I finish my soda, throw on some yoga pants and a tank top, and head out the door. As soon as my door closes my phone rings in my hands.
    It’s Jase, and for a second I consider not answering it, but I know that isn’t a good idea. He’s bound to go off the deep end if I ignore him.
    “Hello.” I answer, as coldly as I can muster. All I want to do is scream at him, but I know there is a temper in him and I don’t want to poke the sleeping beast.
    “You called me, Gwynn. What do you want?” He sounds pissed, but he’s not supposed to be pissed; I am!
    “You fucking followed us this weekend, Jase. That’s creepy enough in itself, then you go and stalk us at the chapel, take my picture, and put it up online for EVERYONE to see!?” I’m yelling now, pacing the hallway. I just want to punch something; but I can’t. I know it won’t help anymore.
    “I told you it was a mean world out there, Gwynnie.”
    “What the fuck, Jase! You are supposed to be my best friend, not my worst enemy!” I feel the familiar knot in my throat and want to slap myself for crying so damn much lately.
    “Gwyn, I could still be your friend if you weren’t fucking him.” His words are like acid, burning as he throws them at me.
    “I love him, Jase. You don’t understand,” I say as I slide down the wall. “There’s something real between us. Something I’ve never had before. Something I didn’t even know I wanted until it slapped me in the face.”
    “That’s great, Gwynn, real fucking great. You two enjoy living next to each other, screwing each other’s brains out.”
    Jase ends the call as soon as he finishes talking, leaving me alone again in the silence. Eddie was already weird on the plane ride home when someone mentioned marriage, now