Falling Away (33 page)

             
Don’t do it. Don’t do it… I know you’re curious, just don’t do it!

             
“So… how’s Anne doing these days?”
Damn my mouth…
“’Cause in all seriousness, you could do so much better.”

             
“Likewise.” With a tone level only I could hear, he added, “So I take it my choice of date bothers you?”

             
“Is that what you’re hoping for? ‘Cause I’m more concerned about your health and you contracting whatever STDs she’s carrying.”

             
“Well, I’ve known her all her life, so I have a pretty good idea of where she’s been. I bet you can’t say that about the jerk you brought as
your
date.” When I didn’t respond quickly enough, he added, “Yeah, that’s right. I ran across him earlier. Still a jackass.”
             

             
Great. Couldn’t wait to find out what that was all about. With stiff lips, I defended, “I didn’t invite him. I left him at home so we could get through this weekend without biting each other’s heads off.”

             
“Doing a bang-up job there.”

             
“For your information, Sophie invited Evan the moment she found out
you
invited Anne.” I actually pointed my finger into his chest.

             
“Why do you care so much about Anne?”

             
“Why do you care so much about Evan?”

             
“Because he totally fucked up our relationship.”

             
“No,
you
did that the moment you walked out and ignored me.”

             
He was really about to go after me then, but apparently our hushed voices had been rising in tone, and Sophie was suddenly on top of us as everyone else pretended not to notice, which they completely sucked at.

             
“Stop. It,” she gritted through closed teeth. Her hands went between us and pushed us farther apart. “You are the maid of honor and you are the
freakin
’ best man. You’re supposed to be setting an example.”

             
“Speaking of, why is he even down here?” I asked, my free hand taking to my hip. We may have been pushed apart but we were still glaring at one another since it was the only way we could continue to yell. “Isn’t the best man supposed to be stationed by the groom for the entire service?”

             
“Hey.” She actually snapped her fingers in my face to get me to focus on her instead of Robert. “When you get married, you can design the wedding how you’d like it. This is the way mine is gonna run and the two of you are gonna walk down that aisle as if it were eight months ago and you were still crazy in love with one another. It’s just a thirty second walk you have to fake. And in about four hours this night will be over and you never have to see one another again. So suck it up. Got it?”

             
My anger seceded and I suddenly felt ashamed. I didn’t even care that much. Fuck Anne. Fuck Robert. I was with Evan. I didn’t need this drama crap. “Sorry, Soph. I can pretend
to
be happy for the next four hours.”

             
Sighing, Robert concurred. “Me, too.”

             
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.” She left and the eyes around us began ignoring us once again.

             
Quietly, I asked, “Do I even
wanna
know what happened between you and Evan earlier?”

             
With a hint of anger, he retorted, “Ask. Your. Boyfriend.”

             
Oh, trust me. I intended to.

             
We got through both the wedding march hand-in-hand and the service with good behavior. The pictures were a little more annoying ‘cause there were several they expected us to wrap each other up in our arms, but we did it without verbalizing our irritation. We managed to smile as we entered the ball room, where the staff was waiting so they could begin serving dinner shortly. And that was the bad part. We were seated at a six top with Sophie and
Jhett
, and their parents were at the next table over, with Dana and
Jhett’s
younger brother. There was no way to avoid Evan and I being really close to Robert and Anne, which made the whole charade that much more difficult, ‘cause Evan and Anne weren’t under strict instructions to behave. I would’ve thought that Sophie would’ve seen this nightmare coming and had us separated to control the drama. But then I realized she sat us this way on purpose, ‘cause with all of us at the same table, we wouldn’t dare cause a scene under her nose.

             
The only way the seating arrangement worked was for Evan and Anne to sit beside one another, which was for the best since they didn’t know each other anyway. Sadly, the majority of conversation at our table was reserved for the person we were partnered with, but so long as we all behaved, Sophie seemed fine with it. And truthfully, she favored having
Jhett’s
attention all to herself.

             
Once our salads arrived and conversation filled the room, I quietly leaned toward Evan and asked what the hell happened earlier with Robert. “Nothing,” he said, but I totally didn’t believe him. “We had a few choice words for one another but it’s not like we tried to throw a punch or anything.”

             
“See why I thought it’d be best if I came alone? Are you really enjoying yourself this weekend?”

             
He cocked his head and that sexy half-smile slowly grew, trying to bait mine in return. “I’m always happy by your side, and I could care less about the bumps in the road. Because at the end of the night, I still get to take you home with me.”

             
For a moment, I completely forgot there were other people around, so I let him kiss me slowly on the lips. Afterwards, I couldn’t contain my smile. At least until I turned my attention back to the table. Sophie was smiling, and winked at me, but Robert was a wee bit pissed before he managed to get his facial expressions in check. Anne looked ready to stab me in the eye with her salad fork, which surprised me since she was the one that currently had Robert.
Jhett
just pretended he didn’t see any of it. He was probably the smartest of us all.

             
For the most part, our dinner consisted of me avoiding Anne’s glare, Robert and Evan sizing each other up and Sophie and
Jhett
lost in whispered conversation that had nothing to with us and everything to do with their ecstatic moods. But the moment the meal was over, we scattered like roaches when the lights came on. Once the dancing began, I welcomed burying my head on Evan’s shoulder and tried to have fun for once. He seemed content too, and kept us at the far corner for more privacy, ‘cause there was definitely some much
needed affection going on between the two of us. But I was happy, and for awhile, I completely forgot about the crap that happened during the first hour. As far as I was concerned, there was only Evan and me in that room tonight, and my lips let him know it on more than one occasion.

             
Half an hour later, I decided I’d better check in with Sophie, so I sought her out and found her mingling with a few of her guests. I waited for her to move on, and then she happily joined me for a break, grabbing a glass of blush wine to sip on.

             
“How’s it going?” I asked.

             
“Eh, could be better, could be worse.”

             
“Why? What happened?”

             
“Oh, Jenna. I love you to death, but you are so oblivious to what’s been going on right in front of you.”

             
“What?” I asked, completely dumbfounded. Was this about me again? My hands went up in surrender. “I swear to God I’ve been behaving. See?” I asked, pointing to my face. “Real smiles. Not even having to fake them anymore.”

             
“Yeah, honey. I know. You’re fine. Unfortunately, your current boy toy and your ex boy toy are finding this night a little more difficult.”

             
“What do you mean?” She turned me to face Evan, who was leaning against the rollaway bar, staring across the room at…oh, I saw.

             
“Let me give you the four-one-one of what’s gone down while
your
pretty little head was off in Evan-La-La-Land, okay? Evan’s had you pinned in one corner with you acting all snugly in his arms, while Robert’s been doing the same with Anne in the opposite corner. They’ve spent the past thirty minutes having a stare down anytime you and Anne weren’t preoccupying their lips. And let me tell you, I’m not a fan of seeing those two make out. Anne practically inhales his face and poor Robert just makes the art of kissing look painful.”

             
I sighed a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Soph. I tried to avoid this. Robert and I were doing just fine until our dates entered the picture. If we had both just come solo, we never would’ve turned on one another.”

             
“Yeah, well, I’m guilty in this mess too. Just do me a favor and keep them separated. Something’s brewing and I don’t want them blowing their tops during my reception.”

             
“I’ll do my best,” I said as I aimed my feet for Evan. Maybe he felt my stare, ‘cause half way across the floor he gazed in my direction. That charming smile wasn’t gonna work on me this time.

             
“You’re cute when you’re mad,” he evaded.

             
I grabbed him and turned him around, ruining his line of sight with Robert. “Yeah? Guess why I’m mad right now?” His hand enveloped mine as our opposite arms reached behind and we began swaying in place. His face fell, mostly annoyed ‘cause he knew the gig was up. “Yeah,” I dragged out. “Sophie totally saw you guys. You promised you’d behave.”

             
His eyes aimed down to connect with mine. “Well, he makes that difficult. He won’t stop watching you.”

             
“You mean he won’t stop watching you. Leave me out of this.”

             
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you? Yes, I’m watching him. But I’m not the one he’s been looking at all night. Trust me. There’s a difference in the glare when his eyes meet with mine.”

             
Boys. “Whatever. Look, now you’re blocking his view of me
and
you guys can’t glare at each other anymore. So can you just smile and focus on me now?”

             
Easily persuaded, he leaned down to kiss me gently. I wrapped both my hands around his neck, and his trailed down my sides to connect behind my lower back. We swayed for awhile, even when the fast music played. After a while, I pulled free from the niche I buried my head in.  “Can I go to the bathroom without worrying about you?”

             
He eyed me sensually and bit at my lip playfully, giving me one last kiss that lasted several minutes. Don’t think I didn’t realize the aggressiveness of that kiss was more for someone else’s benefit than my own. Why did boys always have to mark their territory? I ended the kiss and taunted, “Would you prefer to just pee on me?”

             
“If you think it would work better,” he quickly quipped.

             
I pushed off him and headed to the bridal suite. After refreshing my hair and make-up, I returned a few minutes later. I was immediately snatched up by Sophie as she whipped past, trying not to draw too much attention as we crossed the ballroom. “Don’t tell me…”

             
Yep. She was totally leading me towards the back where Robert and Evan were having a heated conversation. I saw a cranberry blur to my left equaling our pace, so Anne must had honed in on this too. Robert caught us coming, and mouthed a curse word, which made Evan turn our way and repeat the same
word. I never knew for sure what was said ‘cause they were totally quiet by the time Sophie, Anne and I all showed up.

             
Through gritted teeth, Sophie hushed firmly, “All of you. Hallway. Now.”

             
No one dared to challenge the bride or risk the attention she was trying hard to avoid, not even Anne. I plastered on a fake smile to those we passed, my hand linked with Evan’s just to be sure he didn’t respond to the icy stares Robert was throwing back at us. Anne was doing the same thing, trying to push Robert towards the hall without incident. At least the girl wasn’t completely oblivious to what was taking place. Sophie led us to the end of the hallway, far from eavesdropping ears. At some point
Jhett
caught on, ‘cause he was suddenly pushing his way through us to stand close to Sophie.

             
We stood there silently in an awkward circle, watching as Sophie took a few deep breaths to calm herself. I was literally feeling the quiver in my heels, afraid we had officially unleashed the
Bridezilla
from within. It just goes to show, even the calmest bride
could
be provoked when you screw
ed
with her wedding.