Falling Away (28 page)

“Oh, my God,” I whined. “We’re not going to have this conversation again, are we?” It had become an absolute broken record as of late. He really wanted to take me to Sophie’s wedding and I just couldn’t get it through his thick head what a bad idea that was. Girls may think they want two guys fighting over them, but they sure as hell don’t want them screwing up their best friend’s biggest day in the process.

             
“I keep hoping you’re going to come to your senses and take me with you.”

             
“Evan, stop,” I said, zipping up the garment bag that hung on the backside of my bathroom door. When I stepped up and placed my hands on his chest, he sighed and reluctantly grabbed my waist, dreading the words he’d already heard a couple of times now. “This weekend isn’t about you, or me, or Robert. It’s about Sophie and
Jhett
, okay? Tonight’s rehearsal dinner, tomorrow’s parties and Saturday’s wedding. Sophie.
Jhett
. That’s all I
wanna
focus on. You and Robert in the same place…we all know it’s gonna get ugly and I’m not gonna let that explosion happen during Sophie’s wedding.”

             
Evan’s face was still filled with disappointment. “So you’re not trying to hide me?”

             
“No.”

             
“And if it comes up this weekend, you’re okay admitting that we’re together now?”

             
“Yes.” Though I had zero intentions of discussing that around Robert.

             
“Fine,” he muttered. “But for the record, I don’t like the thought of you going alone.” He released me and grabbed my garment bag, heading for the door. “Finish up. I’ll wait in the truck.”

             
It was my turn to sigh. I really wished I could take him. If I had any faith they’d both behave and wouldn’t make Sophie and
Jhett
un
comfortable, I
totally
would.

             
I stuffed the remainder of my essentials into the bag and followed Evan down a few minutes later. He was quiet all the way to the station, and when we got there, he pulled into a parking spot instead of dropping me off up front. He shifted the truck into park, released his seatbelt and turned to face me, leaving the engine running.

             
“Are you mad?” I asked.

             
“Not mad. Just frustrated, about being left behind.”

             
“If it were any other wedding in the world I’d be taking you.”

             
“I know,” he said, his elbow propped up on the steering wheel and his thumb and forefinger stroking his chin. “I just don’t want you anywhere near him.”

             
“Why?”

             
He leaned on the console between us. “You forget, I know what it’s like to lose you, and how far I went to get you back. I’m not proud of what I did, but in the end, it worked. And he knows that. So what’s to keep him from trying something in return?”

             
I leaned toward him, our mouths just inches apart. “And
you
forget; I didn’t really kiss you back that day. The reason Robert lost me was ‘cause he refused to believe I wasn’t cheating on him. I don’t think you’d make that mistake even if Robert did try something similar.”

             
“I still
hate
not being there. And it doesn’t
all
have to do with him. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I want to be there because this weekend is important to you?”

             
I smiled and brought my lips to his. He obliged with a few sweet kisses, but then his hand clasped the back of my neck as he began sucking and biting the skin beneath my ear. His cologne was intoxicating, and filled my nostrils with a warm burn that released an internal sigh. I let him nibble for a minute, then broke the daze and forced myself to pull away. Otherwise, I was never gonna leave this truck. And by the wicked grin on his face, I believed that may have been his intention.
             

             
“That’s just evil.” I flashed him a playful scowl and opened the door, grabbing my bag and reaching for the garment bag he passed my way.

             
“Just giving you something to remember me by.”

             
“Evil,” I repeated. I smacked a kiss into the air as I bumped the door closed behind me and waved goodbye. The scent of his cologne lingered on my skin, as did the upward curve to my lips.

             
It sucked spending the majority of the day on a bus. Not just ‘cause some of them tended to reek of body odor as the day progressed, or their sometimes uncleanly interior, or the questionable people who lacked manners and stared indefinitely, but ‘cause it gave me all day to worry about seeing Robert again. I’d done really well not to focus on him these past
several
months, and Evan was the perfect distraction to help get me over him. My only concern was whether or not I’d still feel anything when I saw him again. And for mine and Evan’s sake, I truly hoped to make it through this weekend unscathed.

             
Color
me surprised when I saw
Jhett
instead of Sophie at the station in Philadelphia, since she was the one
who
planned on coming to get me.

             
“Hey,” I said cheerfully as he took my garment bag and pulled me in for a side hug. “Long time no see.”

             
“How’s it been going for you? You’re still in Vermont, right?”

             
“For now,” I replied, following him through the exit doors to the parking lot. “I got into Rutgers for the fall. Now I just need to figure out how to go about paying for it.”

             
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. You always do.”

             
We chit-chatted all the way to the hotel where we were staying and having the wedding on Saturday. Robert, of course, remained an elusive topic, neither of us daring to bring him up. I asked why Sophie didn’t pick me up, and he told me she and Mom were meeting last minute with the wedding planner to make sure everything was going as planned. Sophie’s father had already checked me in, so
Jhett
took me straight up. I rolled my bag to the luggage rack and threw it on top.
Jhett
hung my garment bag on the back of the closet door.

             
“Alright, Jenna. I’ve got to know. Why do you smell like a dude?”

             
My jaw dropped. “You can smell that?” I frantically rubbed my neck and smelled my fingertips. I was sure Evan’s scent was still there, I just couldn’t smell it anymore.

             
“Of course I can smell it.”

             
Annoyed, I stepped into the bathroom to wet a wash rag, then lightly wiped my neck, praying the towel was soft enough not to scratch.

             
Jhett
leaned against the bathroom doorway. “That’s really not going to solve your problem.”

             
I moaned my frustration and cursed under my breath. “I was trying to avoid a shower.”

             
“Uh…Jenna.” I stopped to look at him when he didn’t continue. It looked like he was trying hard to fight a smile. “You’re dating that Evan guy, right? The one that kissed you in front of Robert?”

             
“Yeah.” I don’t know why I sounded so frightened saying that.

             
“Well, he’s not here, so I’m guessing you didn’t bring him along with you?”

             
Oh. That’s where this was going. I shook my head. “No.” I threw down the towel, leaned on my hands and stared myself down in the mirror. “I didn’t
wanna
chance the two of them going at it this weekend.”

             
“Yeah, I get that. But you’re missing the point of my question.”

             
I turned curiously. He motioned with his head to follow him back into the room, where he unzipped my garment bag. I shrugged when he just stood there afterwards. “What?”

             
His eyebrows lifted high and hung out for a bit, waiting for me to figure it out, once again pressing his lips tightly to keep from smiling over whatever I was missing. And then it hit me. That was why
Jhett
could smell Evan’s cologne!

             
I gasped and pulled my dress to my nose. “OH-MY-GOD!”

             
Jhett
broke down laughing, clapping his hands together hard. All this time, I thought it lingered on my skin, but it was coming from my bag. Evan had sprayed my dress! That’s why he gave me that goofy grin as I left.

             
Stopping long enough to breathe,
Jhett
said, “Looks like you brought him with you after all.”

             
“I’m gonna kill him.”

             
“I hate to say it, but if I didn’t have to side with Robert in this mess, I think I’d really get along with Evan.” There was a knock at the door and he went to get it. “And find out what cologne that is. I like it.”

             
Jhett
exchanged a few quiet words with Sophie at the door, then he left and she came toward me, sniffing the air long before she reached me.

             
“Wow. So I guess Evan’s one to mark his territory,” she joked.

             
I yanked the dress from the garment bag. “Ha ha
ha
. You wouldn’t happen to have an extra dress, would you?”

             
“Sorry, no. We’re going home before we hit the honeymoon, so I only brought a couple of things.”

             
“Seriously? You didn’t bring ten million things to try on before each event?”

             
“I already did my obsessive clothing decisions at home. And if I didn’t bring my entire closet, then I wouldn’t take the time to second guess everything.” She sniffed the dress in my hand. “Maybe we can use the hair dryer to steam the scent out a bit. Come on. Bring the dress. I’ve got the rollers plugged in over in my room.”

             
As Sophie began throwing my hair into several jumbo rollers, I desperately tried to air out my dress. The heat from the hairdryer actually did pretty well, and some of the cologne still lingered, but it was wearable now.

             
“Uh, Jenna?” Sophie asked, brushing one of the last sections of my hair to roll.

             
“Yeah?”

             
“By any chance, did Evan give you a few love bites before coming here?”

             
I stared at her in the mirror. True to my feelings, my reflection was not amused, as I already had a feeling what she was about to say. I turned my neck and leaned closer to the mirror. “Oh, come on!” I shouted. First the cologne, now a hickey! I was gonna KILL him! “He’s never given me a hickey before!” At least not anywhere above the neckline… “I didn’t even feel it!”

             
Sophie dropped my hair and laughed. “Oh, he’s good. Just in case you were able to switch out the dress, he had a
freakin
’ backup plan. Guess we’re leaving your hair down tonight.”

             
“Don’t you have something that would cover this up?” I asked desperately, rubbing the bite as if I could wipe it away.

             
“Maybe. Or maybe it’ll just make it more obvious. Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

             
“I’m gonna kill him. I can’t believe he’d do something this childish.”

             
Snorting, Sophie replied, “I can. With the guy he stole you from here? Of course he’s gonna try to mark his territory.”

             
“I’m not territory. Nor am I a pawn in this stupid game of testosterone.”

             
When as cologne- and hickey-free as I was gonna get, Sophie and I made our way downstairs to the elongated room where the wedding ceremony would take place. I was actually surprised she wasn’t gonna blow a crap load of money on flowers at the wedding.
Hmm… Maybe my less-was-more lifestyle was finally rubbing off on her.
All she was gonna do was drape some garland and flowers to the center walkway, and add a few large arrangements up front, but nothing was there yet except the arch they would stand beneath.

             
When we stepped inside the room, I made an immediate beeline for Mom. She embraced me in a long hug that swayed us, and we casually chit-chatted. At Sophie’s shower, I had filled her in on my version of the past seven months. Sophie had already told her a little, but I felt the need to share with her as well, as she was the closest thing I had to a mom, and had always been kind enough to listen and support me, no matter
where my road was leading. But the more I spoke to her, the more I felt heat warming the back of my neck, and my heart began to beat a little faster.