“No,” I said. “This is Lane. Who are you, and how did you get my phone?”
The voice chuckled. “You left it in my apartment last night.”
I drew a blank.
“Your apartment?” I questioned. “I wasn’t in any apartment last night—”
“Yes,” Lavender whispered. “You were.”
I frowned at her. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “Me, you, Daven and the hot lad you pulled went back to his place after the club closed for more drinks.”
I thought back to last night and began to remember what Lavender was talking about.
“Shit,” I mumbled, and moved the phone away from my mouth. “What was his name again?”
Lavender glanced in Kale’s direction and said, “Jensen.”
I could practically feel the glares of the males around the table, and I sensed the disappointment radiate from my mother in waves. I ignored them all and focused on my conversation with the lad on the phone.
“Can I have my phone back, Jensen?” I asked, politely.
He chuckled, again. “Of course, I was calling Lavender from your phone, because I didn’t have her number, so I could return it to you.”
That was . . . nice of him.
“What’s your address and I’ll—”
“Just text your info to Lavender’s phone, and I’ll get it later.”
When I feel human again.
“Okay, babe,” Jensen chirped.
I cringed. “Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”
I hung up and handed Lavender back her phone. She was looking at everyone in the room, and then looked at me like she thought they would kill me, which made me laugh.
“You think this is funny?” Lochlan growled. “You were with a lad last night, drunk off your head, you don’t remember it and now you’re laughing?”
I closed my mouth and just shrugged because I didn’t know what else to do.
“Those are the actions of a dirty tramp,” he scowled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Mate,” Kale glared. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that!”
I shared a surprised look with Lavender because Kale looked like he was ready to jump my brother for saying what he did to me, but my attention was forced away when Layton bellowed, “Lochlan!”
Lochlan looked at our brother. “You condone this shit?”
“No,” Layton growled, “but I’m not about to call her out in front of company. Don’t be an arsehole, and keep your comments to yourself. She isn’t a damn kid anymore.”
Regret washed over Lochlan’s features when Layton, as usual, got through to him. He was too stubborn to apologise to me, though, and while I appreciated my brother’s support, I was still humiliated. I excused myself from the table and hurried up to my room. I tried to close the door behind me, but Lavender was quick to follow and stopped me from doing so.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
She didn’t say a word, only hugged me as my tears fell.
“He didn’t mean it,” she said, and squeezed me tightly. “That was just not something a brother would ever want to know. He was angry, that’s all.”
I nodded. I didn’t blame Lochlan for saying horrible things about me. I thought them about myself too.
“It’s not like he’s lying, though,” I murmured.
Lavender pulled back and scowled at me. “You aren’t dirty, and you aren’t a bloody tramp. Do you understand me?”
“But—”
“No ‘buts’,” she said, cutting me off, her tone harsh. “No one is perfect. You’ve made some mistakes, but that doesn’t make you a bad person.”
I swallowed. “Thanks, Lav.”
“I’m serious,” she pressed. “Hear me clearly.”
I sighed. “I do, but the mistakes you mentioned, I don’t want to make them anymore.”
“Then we’ll cut off the source to those mistakes,” she said with a firm nod.
I raised my brows. “And what is the source?”
“Alcohol,” she said.
I blinked. “Yeah, nothing good has ever come from me drinking.”
“You use it to drown your sorrows, but we’ll find a new way for you to do that.” Lavender kissed my cheek and gave me another hug. “We’ll figure this out together. I’m right here with you; I’ll help you up if you fall.”
“I love you, Lav,” I said, and held her tightly.
Lavender gave me a squeeze in return. “I love you too, even if you are a pain in my arse.”
I laughed, and just like that, she eased the tension out of the room. She was right: I’d eventually find a new way to deal with getting over Kale, and this time it wouldn’t be something to just help the pain for a few hours.