“Hey.” Lucy’s dad tugged on his wife’s sleeve.
“What?” she asked. “I’m in the middle—”
“Look at Danielle,” he said. Lucy and Dani’s mom turned slightly, giving me a clear view across the tent. Dani’s adoring gaze was fixed on David as he gestured to the group around them. Even in the outdoor tent, the room lit up around him, intensifying his dark, grave features. Recognizing him instantly, my heart vaulted from my chest, clawing against the ribcage that so cruelly separated it from where it wanted to be.
As if he felt my eyes on him, he paused, looked up, and met my stare. It was just us again in that moment, the crowd merely a conductor of our crackling energy. It was like seeing him for the first time but with the knowledge that he had felt me in a way that no one else ever had.
His expression remained as passive as mine probably was. Having my senses stolen by him, I didn’t have the wherewithal to smile politely or acknowledge him in any form. I didn’t look away as I had the first night we’d made eye contact but held his gaze instead. My body responded to the memory of his touch, craving him like a drug, instructing me to reach out and consume him. To take him into my bloodstream so he could once again kill the pain and warm me from the inside.
He flinched and blinked—once, twice—before looking away and leaving me cold. My breathing labored and ice cubes rattled in my glass, but I could barely hear them over the heartbeat in my ears.
“Don’t you agree, dear?” Lucy’s mom asked with an expectant look. “Liv?”
I nodded without a clue of what she’d been talking about and emitted a small noise.
Bill waved me off and said something else to her. My disobedient eyes gravitated back to David. He sported a perfectly tailored tuxedo and looked the same as I remembered: relaxed, easy, and painfully, bring-me-to-my-knees handsome. Not nearly as distraught or sleepless as I felt, which wasn’t surprising since in bachelor-time, our liaison had occurred ages ago. His jet-black hair was styled with precision, and I could see from where I stood the smoothness of his square jaw. It was his chestnut brown eyes and the sexy cleft of his chin that almost did me in. His hands strained against the fabric of his expensive suit pockets. Dani tugged on his sleeve, but he stared at something beyond her, clearly distracted.
My legs tensed with the urge to run away, but he couldn’t know how he still affected me. Not when he’d so clearly moved on.
When Dani giggled and looked at her feet in response to something he’d said, I seized Bill’s hand, causing him to freeze mid-sentence. That was when I noticed David steal a furtive look in my direction. I’d almost missed it, but it had happened.
Later, during dinner, I wrung a piece of paper with my speech on it, and then immediately smoothed it out.
“Nervous?” Bill whispered.
“No.” I hadn’t been until my audience had fallen away, leaving only one person to hear my toast. If I’d been blind, I still would’ve seen David; he was a beacon in the sea of faces.
“You’re up,” Bill said, motioning that I should stand. “It’s your turn.”
The tent went silent, and I scrambled out of my seat to look out over the crowd. I touched my earlobe and took a deep breath.
“I’ll keep it short and sweet, like our bride here,” I started. I glanced down at the piece of paper, but the words blurred together, so I focused on the room again. “How do you know when you’ve met ‘the one’? Do both hearts suddenly change rhythm, syncing to form their own beautiful symphony? Do you see yourself,” I paused, dropping my eyes to the champagne flute in my hand, “suddenly exquisite and irresistible through their eyes? Does love become something tangible, something that others can see but only the two of you can touch?”
I looked at Bill, who smiled encouragingly, and I set my hand on the back of his chair. “I don’t think anyone can answer that because for everyone, it’s different. Andrew and Lucy are meant to be.” I looked directly at Lucy. “Period. There aren’t two people more perfect for each other. When Lucy told me one night that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Andrew, I said, ‘Duh, tell me something I don’t know.’” A light laugh rippled through the crowd, and I raised my glass. “I love you both, and I am so honored to be a part of tonight. Cheers.”
I dropped into my chair and crumpled the paper in my hands. It wasn’t the speech I’d written, but the words weren’t hard to find. They’d been within reach, right in front of me.
5
Acurtsy from Lucy and a bow from Andrew signified the end of their first dance as a married couple. Afterward, I bolted from the outdoor tent up to Andrew’s parents’ estate for a much-needed moment alone. I found a guest bathroom, locked myself inside, and breathed through my distress. David’s presence had thrown me so far off-kilter that I almost felt alive again. With only one glance, he’d managed to stir up my emotions while simultaneously providing comfort. I felt somehow safer in his bubble, like everything was better when he was near.
Once I’d gathered myself and checked my makeup, I exited the bathroom—and skidded to a halt as I almost ran right into a wall of a body.David’swall of a body.
“What is this?” he demanded, blocking my path as his hard eyes darted over my dress.
I scanned the empty foyer to make sure we were alone. “What’swhat?” I asked.
“When was the last time you ate anything?”
I blinked at the unexpected question, then raised my eyes to his. “I had the salmon,” I said smugly.
When I tugged on my earlobe, David shot my hand a glance, and I let go instantly. Though no one else had ever brought it to my attention, David never seemed to miss my nervous habit.
“Don’t play coy with me, Olivia,” he said. “Why are you so thin?”
“I’ve been busy,” I said, straightening my posture.
“That’s bullshit.” He touched my arm with obvious restraint. I bit back a gasp, his skin on mine like liquid sun, radiating through my body. “What is going on with you?”
