Three's a Crowd

Rhiannon spun and started blindly pushing her way through the crowd. I shot Matteo one more glare, then quickly followed, a few paces behind. I caught up to Rhi halfway back to the booth, and latched on to her arm. She turned to meet me, her expression a war between hurt and rage.

"That lying son of a bitch!" she hissed. "He swore there was no one else."

"Rhi, it's been months," I said soothingly. "Maybe he was telling the truth."

She choked out a bitter laugh. "Even if I wanted to delude myself into believing that, I know it's not true. I've met that girl. Teo was a TA in a first year class and she was one of the students. She was in one of the extra study groups that he led. She would go to his office for "extra help" all the time. I can't believe I didn't see it before."

I felt my own anger rise on Rhiannon's behalf, but I pushed it aside. "Rhi, let's just go, okay?" I said softly. "Rachel will understand."

She shook her head emphatically. "No. He's already made a fool of me once. I'm not crawling out of here with my tail between my legs. If he's uncomfortable, he can be the one to go!"

I sighed. "I don't know, Rhi... I think we should just leave. I don't see how this is going to end well."

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth, rage clearly winning the battle now. Rhiannon had the softest heart, but when she was angry, she was a force of nature. There was no standing in her way. Her eyes focused on something over my shoulder and her face hardened further. "You want to help me, Allie? Keep him the fuck away from me."

I glanced backwards and saw Matteo making his way over to us. When I turned back to Rhiannon, she was already shouldering her way back to the booth.

I set my shoulders and stood firmly in Matteo's path as he approached me. He stopped in front of me and I stared into his face, my brows raised, my mouth pinched with contempt.

"Allie..." he started, before trailing off, his eyes dropping to the floor.

"Don't bother, Matteo," I spat the words at him, my voice sharp. He flinched.

"Come on, Allie," he said. "I just want to talk to her, to explain it... It's not what she thinks."

"Does it even matter?" I said. "What could you possibly say that would make things better?"

He swallowed hard, guilt etched into his face. "I didn't cheat on her."

"Honestly, Teo, it doesn't even matter." My voice was cold, disdainful. I had the knife in him, and I sure as hell wanted to twist it. "She loved you, she built her whole life around you, and you just shattered her and walked away. Whether you started fucking your freshmeat before or after the fact is irrelevant."

He set his jaw, and a steeliness came into his eyes. "She built her life around me? More like the other way around. Our whole relationship revolved around her career, her dream." His voice cracked with bitter emotion. "I'm not the kind of guy who can be content with spending his whole life in the passenger seat."

I felt sick to my stomach. His words echoed what Gavin had said during our huge blowout. I heard the barely suppressed rage mingle with the contempt in my voice as I shot back, "So she should have given up on her dream so you could feel like more of a man? How pathetic."

Matteo's face twisted and I could tell that I had hit the mark. He opened his mouth to respond, when his little Barbie appeared at his side, tugging at his arm. "Matty, let's just get out of here."

I raised a brow and laughed. "Yeah, Matty," I spat the whitewashed nickname at him. "I think you've done more than enough damage for one night."

He looked at me in silent fury for a second, and then turned without a word towards the door, his girlfriend trotting dutifully at his heels like a little puppy.

I let out a deep breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding, some of the rigid tension leaking out of my shoulders. I turned and slowly made my way back to the booth, less than eager to resume the festivities.

I didn't even spot Rhiannon right away, and when I did, I heaved a sigh of frustration. She was nestled into a corner of one of the booths, Eric practically wrapped around her. He had one arm slung over her shoulders, his hand playing with her hair as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. His other hand was sitting dangerously high on her thigh. She was smiling flirtatiously into his face.

I debated what to do for a moment, and Rachel appeared at my side. Her eyes were on Rhiannon and Eric too, but her innocent, excited expression mirrored none of my concern.

"It really looks like they're hitting it off! I'm so happy Rhi is finally giving Eric a chance. He's been into her forever! And she's been a freaking nun since the breakup. I'm glad she's finally moving on!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't be so sure about that," I said wryly.

She frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"We just ran into Teo," I said. I almost laughed at the shock on Rachel's face. "And  he was with a tiny blonde teenager who he is apparently screwing."

She grimaced. She looked back over at Rhiannon and Eric, and tilted her head to the side contemplatively. "Well, maybe this is a good thing, then," she said, her voice hopeful. "Give Rhi a confidence boost."

"I'm more concerned about how she's going to feel in the morning," I said. "She's obviously not thinking clearly."

"Right," Rachel said sarcastically. "Because God forbid she'd be interested in one of Derek's friends. Eric couldn't possibly be good enough for her."

I raised my hands defensively. "Whoa! Why are you getting pissed with me? I'm just trying to look out for Rhi."

"Yeah, and you always know best, don't you?" Rachel shot back, her voice quivering with resentment now. Her words began to tumble out as her anger picked up speed. "Get off your high horse, Allie. You and Gavin and Rhiannon and Teo were just a perfect foursome, weren't you? Just way too mature and sophisticated for me and Derek. Well I hate to break it to you, Allie, but Teo is the one who broke Rhi's heart into a million pieces. Eric is a good catch. He's smart and has a good job. Rhi would be lucky to be with him. And you just don't want to admit it because you don't want to be the one on the outside for once."

With that, she turned and flounced back to the booth. I stood there in shock. Tears rose to my eyes as waves of anger, hurt, and shame rolled over me. I had never realized that Rachel felt excluded by me and  Rhiannon. I was naturally closer with Rhi, and I hung out with her more one-on-one, confided in her more. I never thought that Rachel even picked up on it, let alone felt hurt by it.

The effects of the turbulent events of the night hit me all at once and I suddenly felt like couldn't stay there a minute longer. I approached Rhi and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked over at me as if in a daze, "What's up?"

"I'm gonna head out," I said. "You coming?"

She hesitated, looking back at Eric. "Stay and hang out. I'll take you home," he said.

I'll bet you will, I thought spitefully. I waited for her answer.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick around a while longer," she said casually.

I had a very strong feeling that she was going to regret this in the morning, but I knew Rachel was right about one thing. I couldn't make Rhi's decisions for her. She had to be free to make her own mistakes and I just had to be there to help her through the fallout, no judgment. God knows she'd done that for me enough times when I was single. "Okay, then. Text me so I know you get home safe,
okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, turning away. "I'll be fine."

I said my goodbyes to everyone. Rachel refused to meet my eyes. I went out back and ordered an Uber, which luckily came within minutes.

By the time I slipped between my sheets, I was exhausted and had a dull pounding feeling behind my eyes. I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, flashes of the night playing on a loop inside my head. Rhiannon's tear-filled eyes. Teo's bitter words. Rachel's angry resentment.

Unbidden, Reid's face joined the jumble. I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face.

What a colossal fucking mess.