“Sorry, didn’t mean to go all girlfriend on you,” she said. “Just wanted to figure out some things. The wedding starts at four, so we should be good.”
She looked nervous.
“Sweets, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You don’t owe that asshole anything,” I reassured her.
“I have to go. I have to show him he didn’t break me when he left me,” she insisted, her voice cracking a little.
I hated that this douche-canoe made her feel like she wasn’t worthy of love. If I were home, I would have folded her into my arms until she felt better. But I wasn’t. I was alone and horny in my hotel room.
“Do you still love him?”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not. It just proved to me love isn’t real. Everyone leaves in the end. So what’s the point?”
I frowned at that. I wished I could get her to accept my love, but she had been firm for so long that we had an expiration date. Nothing I did would convince her otherwise.
She wiped at her eyes, and that set my anger ablaze. She might say she didn’t still love him, but what he did had affected her so much. I was angry for her, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to attend this wedding without trying to drop the gloves with that asshat. How could he have done that to her? He took the coward’s way out of not even telling her to her face, and that pissed me off even more.
“Sweets…”
“Please, Blaise, don’t give me that pity. It’s the truth.”
“V…”
“I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she told me quickly and then hung up.
I hated that I was in Buffalo, and I couldn’t comfort her the way I wanted to. I wanted to hold her in my arms and dry her tears. She didn’t want my pity, and she didn’t want my love, and I wasn’t sure what pissed me off more. Going to this wedding was a bad idea, but pretending we were dating was an even worse one. I wasn’t sure how I was going to let her go after this.
Chapter Twenty-Four
VERONICA
I twirled around in the living room of Alex and Eddie’s apartment. “How does it look?” I asked them.
Alex and Eddie weren’t much for fashion, but they were good at telling me if I looked like shit. Brothers were so great! Thank god for Olivia. She helped style my hair and did my makeup.
“I think he’s gonna shit a brick when he sees you,” Eddie said with a big grin.
“Who’s the ‘he’ in this situation? Seth? Or Blaise?” Alex teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Blaise!”
My brother walked over to me and smoothed down the skirt of my black dress. “Look at you, little goth girl in black again.”
I stuck out my tongue. “It was Olivia approved.”
Olivia beamed from her perch on the couch. “She looks so sexy in that.”
“She does!” Eddie agreed. “Blaise won’t know what hit him.”
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my purse, smiling at the text from Blaise that he was outside waiting for me. I slid my feet into the black wedge heels Olivia forced me to wear. Blaise would still tower over me despite wearing them.
“Can you even walk in those?” Eddie asked.
I shrugged. “I’m gonna try.”
“Take a jacket, will you?” Alex urged.
I shrugged on my signature leather jacket. “Okay, Dad!”
Alex put an arm around Eddie and smiled when Eddie kissed his temple. They were such a cute couple, and I loved that I got a second annoying brother out of that surprise marriage. Actually, three if I counted Eddie’s brothers, Frankie and Tony, too.
“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Eddie teased.
“What, like get drunk married in Vegas?” I teased back.
Alex shrugged and looked at Olivia and Eddie. “We like Blaise, yes?”
Olivia nodded. “They would have such cute babies.”
“The cutest,” Alex agreed.
“Aw, can you imagine Blaise putting their little ones on skates?” Eddie cooed.
“So cute,” Alex agreed.
I gave them all the finger. “Okay, leaving now. Stop planning my non-existent wedding and babies.”
I raced down the steps of the apartment, finding Blaise leaning up against his car with a sly grin on his face. He looked amazing in the nicely tailored black suit with the dark purple tie that matched my hair perfectly.
Blaise whistled at me, and his eyes walked up my body. “Damn, girl.”
“You think it’s okay?” I asked nervously.
“Okay?” he asked. “I’m trying to figure out how to get you out of that dress before we get there.”
He opened the passenger door of his car, and I lifted the bottom of my dress so it didn’t drag on the ground when I got inside. He waited for me to get situated before closing the door. He ran around to the driver’s side, and we took off.
“Do you want me to drive back tonight so you can drink?” I asked.
The wedding was up in Chester County, so it was a bit of a drive, and I was pretty sure Blaise had a home game tomorrow.
“Nah, I got a hotel room,” he explained.
“You did? You didn’t have to do that.”
“Hey, if this is it, I want to make it last tonight.”
“Hope you brought the lube!” I joked.
He smirked as he got on the highway. “I did.”
I laughed but ended up being quiet for most of the ride. There was a sour feeling in my stomach whenever I thought about this being my last night with him.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I didn’t want things to end between us. I hadn’t felt this way about someone since Seth. I had been so concerned with showing Blaise the line that I ended up crossing it myself.
The timing was all wrong. Blaise just got out of a long-term relationship, and he wasn’t looking for anything serious right now. After tonight, he was done with me, and even though I said we could still be friends, I didn’t think we were going to see each other after this.
I frowned when I saw a text from the groom.
SETH: Are you really coming?
ME: You invited me.
SETH: I was just being polite.
ME: Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell her she was the other woman.
He stopped texting after that.
“You okay, sweets?” Blaise asked but didn’t take his eyes off the road.
“Fine,” I muttered.
I was not fine, but I couldn’t tell him what was wrong.
He didn’t ask again, and I wondered if this was a good idea. Why did I come to my ex’s wedding?
Before I knew it, we arrived at the venue. I barely took my seatbelt off before Blaise had my door open and offered me his hand. I took it with a smile, and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You look gorgeous,” he said and then slanted his mouth on mine in a kiss that left me craving more. He nosed against my neck. “Can we skip the wedding and go bang in the hotel room?”
I slapped his chest playfully. “You can wait, you horndog.”
He gave me a cheeky grin and threaded his hand in mine. We walked into the church together and took a seat in the back. Blaise unclasped his hand from mine, but only so he could lay it on my thigh. I loved that possessive move, like he was claiming me as his own.