“Faith …” I started.
She waved me off with a brightness that was clearly forced. “This is supposed to be fun wedding prep day. Let’s keep it that way.”
Just like that, her mask slipped back into place. But knowing it was a mask made it even sadder, realizing how much practice she must have had, hiding her pain from the world. From everyone …
I wanted to know Faith’s story. Blake’s little sister. A beautiful woman who deserved happiness.
“So,” Faith said, her voice determinedly cheerful as she redirected the conversation with calculated precision, “Mathew or Axel?”
I blinked. “What?”
“Who do you want more? Mathew or Axel?”
The question hit me harder than I wanted it to, making my stomach twist into knots. Because suddenly, with startling clarity, I knew the answer. And it terrified me. Mathew was safe, predictable, everything I thought I wanted. But Axel? Axel made me feel like I was on fire, like I was truly alive for the first time in years.
“Aren’t you supposed to meet Mathew later?” Tessa asked.
I’d texted Mathew, asking to meet. Somewhere private though. Couldn’t risk being seen together. His place made the most sense since Axel would probably have an aneurysm if Mathew showed up at the penthouse again. Originally, I’d asked to meet so I could ask him to stop texting me, but now … now I had a different message.
“I am.” The words felt like an ominous weather forecast.Prediction: Tornado warning. Seek shelter immediately. Because I was about to permanently close the door on a good man for someone who might never be able to give me what I wanted.
“What are you going to say to him?” Tessa questioned.
For a long moment, I just sat there, surrounded by wedding favors and the ghost of romantic music, while my romantic world shifted beneath my feet. Because all those moments with Axel—the banter, the pranks, the way he made me feel alive and challenged and completely myself—they’d been building to something. To this.
I looked up at my friends, who were watching me with a mixture of anticipation and sympathy.
“I know what I need to say to Mathew,” I said quietly.
And I suspected he wouldn’t take it well.
30
WARNING: DISASTER OF EPIC PROPORTIONS LIES JUST BEYOND THIS DOOR. #SHOULDHAVESTAYEDHOME
DAKOTA
“Dakota.” Mathew’s smile lit up his entire foyer as he stood with the door open, looking as handsome as ever.
A pang hit my chest, realizing how much effort he’d put into his appearance. Brand-new gray pants that hugged his hips just right. Black shirt that matched his belt and shoes. All of this for me.
Well, this is going to suck.
“Mathew …”
Before I could finish, he enveloped me in a hug. Pressed against the warmth of his chest, I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through the aching burn searing through my ribs.
You’re doing the right thing,I told myself for the hundredth time since making this decision.
Three months ago, all I wanted was Mathew, but something had shifted. When I first saw him at the restaurant, the shock had overwhelmed my system, like an infection had finally found its antibiotic. Then Mathew started fighting for me. And beingdesired by the person who’d left you? That shit can cloud your judgment.
But as the days passed, something became painfully clear. I onlythoughtI’d been in love with Mathew. Looking back, I had been in love with the idea of being in love with him, with being swept off of my feet by a man who seemingly checked all of my boxes.
Had he never left, maybe we would’ve gotten engaged. Married. Had babies. The whole Pinterest board dream.
But that wasn’t my path.
Everything happens for a reason, they say. Maybe Mathew leaving had been the shock my heart needed. Because if he was the one, I wouldn’t catch myself looking at Axel the way I did. I wouldn’t feel that flutter every time I heard the penthouse elevator. I wouldn’t have felt that heat when he pressed me against the couch or that liquid desire pooling low in my belly when he described what he’d do to me if he ever got me in his bed.
