AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I look back and forth between the two of them, still thoroughly lost. What the fuck? She knows this douche?
Or…wait. Is this Chris, her shitty, blind-date Chris? The same Chris as my ex’s brother Chris?
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” He notices me beside Kiera, then frowns. “Hey, Jonathan. I didn’t think you’d come. Are you guys together?”
I don’t like the way he’s looking at Kiera, like she’s a shiny trinket he wants to collect. I wrap my arm around the back of her chair. “She’s with me. I’m sorry, how do you know each other?”
“We went on a date about six weeks ago,” he says, confirming my suspicions.
What a fucking small world.
Kiera glances back and forth between us. “How do you know Jonathan?”
“He’s my sister’s ex.”
I see the moment she puts two and two together. She looks every bit as shocked as I feel, then manages to cover up with a fake smile. “What a coincidence.”
“Right?” Chris grins. “I’d love to stay and chat, but you know…duty calls when your sibling gets married. Save me a dance later.” He points to Kiera and struts away like his evening just got better.
The minute he’s out of earshot, Kiera lets out a shocked gasp. “OMG, I went on a date with your ex’s brother? I didn’t see that coming.”
“Yeah. All you gave me was his first name and the fact he was a douchebag. I had no idea, either.”
It’s definitely a small world after all, way less than six degrees of separation.
Soon, Amber’s friends and family approach us; I’m sure out of curiosity more than any genuine desire to reconnect. Mentally, I review everything Kiera and I discussed when we swapped backstories. I hope she remembers, too.
Our conversations last most of the cocktail hour. Fortunately, everyone seems to be eating up our story. It helps that she doesn’t squirm away from my arm around her shoulder and she never lets go of my hand. From the women smiling in adoration to the men’s hearty handshakes, it’s mission accomplished.
You and Kiera make a damn good team.
In business, yes. In love…apparently not as much as I thought.
After the deejay asks everyone to take their seats, the bride and groom make their entrance. Amber smiles from ear to ear. Her groom looks at her with the most doting expression.
My anger and bitterness rush back to the fore as the newlyweds make their way to the dance floor. Why does she get to move on and I don’t? She ruined me emotionally, then invited me to her big day to…what? Pretend it didn’t happen?
With kisses and smiling faces, they dance to a slow ballad. In that moment, I realize there are seven-hundred thirty days in two years’ time. If she found someone else and got married in that span because she chose to, that means I could have done the same. But I didn’t. I stewed in my heartbreak and lashed out at others for my loneliness.
I have no one to blame but myself.
The universe gave me chance after chance to start over. But I convinced myself I was too damaged, and it wasn’t possible. That I couldn’t be loved. Because of that, I had pushed every chance and everyone away. For that, I lost Kiera, a woman who believed in love so fiercely. She would have taken the leap with me once upon a time; I’m sure of that. Instead, I turned her into a cynic. I put my emotional damage on her, convincing her that meaningless hookups were the way the world worked, when it never had to be so bleak. That realization feels like a kick to the gut. Amber was never the reason I couldn’t move on. It was me. It was all me.
In shock, I sit through the toasts and cheers. We’ve eaten the main course, and the parents have had their dances. When the deejay welcomes all guests to the dance floor, everyone but Keira and I leave our table. Two tables over, I see Maya Thompson alone, tapping her toe.
This is it. It’s time for me to go kick business into high gear. And time for Kiera to “graduate” in another man’s bed.
Call it off.
And make an ass out of myself now? No, I fucked up. She doesn’t want love. Not anymore, and definitely not from me. I’ve ruined everything for us both.
God, I hate myself so much right now I have no idea how I’m going to function after tonight.
“Well…” I clear my throat and make to rise. “I guess this is—”
“Dance with me?” Her doe eyes plead with me.
