Midnight Sky (Book 1/3 The Anderson Brothers Series)

Derailed

Lauren

Training has been going amazing and I'm starting to get more excited by the day for my in-ring return. Aside from having Blake and Hunter in town, my Uncle Ethan and Aunt Vaughn would be in Texas in a couple of days.

Last night was an absolute shit show. What started off as a fun night with friends, turned sour. I couldn't reveal to them that I was returning to the ring. They were just surprised I had moved on from Carson and was in a new relationship. The comments they made about Andrew were unsettling.

He's so much older than you.

Why couldn't you just make things work with Carson?

Another long distance relationship won't work.

Andrew will probably do whatever he wants with other women while I'm traveling.

It's too good to be true.

These were supposed to be my friends and instead of being supportive, they had nothing positive to say. It was all negative. So, I started to take shot after shot to drown out what they were saying. I knew Andrew, they didn't. Still, why was I doubting my relationship?

I woke up wrapped in Drew's arms. I checked my phone and saw it was fully charged. It was just after 8am and I had a breakfast meeting with Harper at 10 followed by training at 12 and would be there until 6 or 7. Tomorrow was my off day and Thursday was a 12 hour day of training and meetings so my day off tomorrow would be filled with me laying on the couch.

Breaking out of Drew's hold, I went to the bathroom. I had my own drawer here of clothes, majority workout stuff. I grabbed a set and an oversized tee. Drew was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake him. I called for an Uber and quietly left his apartment once it arrived.

When I got home, surprisingly neither of my parents were here. I got ready for the day and packed up, ready to go meet with Harper. She was already waiting when I arrived at breakfast. She smiled when she saw me.

"Hey, sis."

"Hey, Harp," I quietly replied.

She frowned.

"You alright?"

"Mm hmm."

The waitress came over and took our order. As soon as she walked away, Harper turned her attention back to me.

"What's wrong, babes? Rough night?"

"I don't need you to rub it in my face."

"I'm not rubbing anything in your face. What happened?"

"I went to go out and eat with my friends from NXT. They were badgering me about getting back into the ring and I told them I was still on sabbatical. I mean, my return is a secret. It's not like I could tell them anything."

She nodded.

"So, the conversation shifted to what else I've been up to and I brought up Andrew. That's when everything went left."

"What do you mean?"

"They just made comments of him being too old for me. He'd probably cheat while I was traveling, you know, the whole long distance not working. It's all too good to be true. They even went as far as to say I should've stayed with Carson."

She balked.

"See, those bitches are not your friends."

I sighed.

"We came up in NXT together and..."

"And that means nothing. You can make bonds with coworkers, yes some even become friends. These girls always give you shit. How is that friendship?"