Page 115 of The Fast Lane

“Is Aunt Ali okay?” Hallie asked.

“Yeah, honey. She’s just tired, I bet.”

I groaned but didn’t lift my head. Not even when someone sat on the other side of me and put an arm around me. Theo rubbed his hand up and down my arm. “You’re freezing.”

“Yes. Cold. Tired.”

Theo chuckled. “Here, sit up.”

I obeyed, my eyes barely open.

“Arms up.” He pulled a sweatshirt over me. The arms were too long, but it was still warm from being on him and it smelled like him. I buried my nose in the collar.

“Hmm. Good.” I slumped into him, doing an accurate impression of a cooked noodle.

“Ali?”

Frowning, I looked toward the voice. “Alec?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” His smile seemed forced as his eyes darted between the two of us. “Theo.”

“Alec.”

At least we all knew each other’s names. I blew out a breath and waited to see who would speak first. This was so much more awkward than I expected.

Alec turned his body slightly, so he was facing me. “I hope we can have a chance to talk before the wedding. To catch up.”

Theo’s arm on my shoulders tightened and he hauled me closer. I put my hand on his knee.

“I don’t have anything I need to say,” I said. “So, I’m good.”

He leaned closer. “I think I made a mistake. I thought,” he smiled a little uncertainly, his eyes darting to Theo and then back to me, “you could go to the wedding with me. As my date. We could reconnect.”

I was almost impressed he’d asked. He had bigger cojones than I had given him credit for. “No. We’re not going anywhere together. You made that clear over a year ago. Like I said. I’m good.”

“Oh, come on, Ali. We always have fun together and,” again his gaze tripped to Theo and back to me, “I miss you.”

My back went rigid. “Where is this coming from? You haven’t spoken to me in months. You blocked my phone number. You were dating two days after you broke up with me.”

“But—”

“She said no,” Theo said, his voice hard.

Alec’s eyes swung to Theo, giving him a quick assessment. He’d never said outright that he hadn’t liked Theo when we dated but it had been obvious. Mae was right. Alec had changed when he got that job in Dallas. The more his boss praised him, the more time he spent with his work bros, the fancier his suits got, the more his arrogance grew.

I’d put the blame of our relationship’s demise on me. It was my stubbornness, my selfishness, my inability to share my feelings that had caused all our problems. But that wasn’t true. Alec had been just as complicit. He’d just never taken any responsibility for it.

Alec rocked back on his feet. “If you change your mind, let me know.”

“I’m not going to,” I said but he’d already walked away.

It took another twenty minutes before we discovered a guest had been smoking in his room and set off the fire alarms, and we were finally let back inside. Everyone rushed to the elevators, so Theo suggested we take the stairs. That sounded impossible but if it put me closer to being in bed, I was all for it.

Around the fourth flight of stairs, I gasped. “I forgot my room key.”

I’d have to go all the way to the lobby and beg for another. I stopped and turned, ready to trudge back the way I’d come.

Theo laid a hand on my arm. “Do you have everything you need in your backpack?”