“Unlike you, she’s not pretending to be someone she’s not. Harper’s genuinely nice.”
No one knows how to respond, and I feel torn between sitting down or storming out. I knew Kenzie forcing Harper to show up tonight was a trap, but it’s nice to see it blow up in her face.
“You don’t know her like I do,” Kenzie stammers. “You’re falling for her act!”
“Kenzie, give it up. She came to your bridal shower and now your rehearsal dinner because she didn’t want to disappointanyone. You forced her to, and she’s being the bigger person,” Tracy points out.
Alex sighs. “And she’s not the one causing a scene at these events like you are, even though she has every right to. You slept with her fiancé. Then you stole her wedding: the venue, the date, the dress, the colors, and the groom.”
“I didn’t do this to get back at Harper,” Kenzie insists.
“Your password to everything was HARPER,” Alex counters. “Seriously?”
“Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t tried to steal her family, but none of them actually like you, so it’s kind of a moot point.”
Sighing, Harper surveys the room. “You shouldn’t have done that. Anything that can be fixed before tomorrow should be.”
Kenzie sinks into the chair beside Asher. “You really had no hand in any of it?”
“Kenzie, you win, okay? You’ve beaten me. You won a game I was never playing. I was genuinely your friend and never saw you as competition, but it’s clear now you were never mine. Our entire relationship has been about competing for a prize I don’t want.”
“Aren’t you mad at me for it all?”
Shaking her head, Harper sighs. “No. I’m really not. You have Asher, and I don’t want him anymore. I haven’t for a while.”
“Then why sleep with my best friend if you don’t care?” Asher shouts.
I clench my fist, but Harper keeps her hand on my arm. She silently urges me not to act, and I restrain myself from giving Asher the black eye he deserves for his wedding.
“Nothing I do has anything to do with you or Kenzie, Asher. I don’t know what kind of games you two play, but I’m not playing.”
The devastation on Kenzie’s face is both surprising and confusing. She finally got what she wanted: she won. Yet, she looks ready to burst into tears.
“Coming tonight was a mistake, but I’m glad you found out the truth, Kenzie. Your goal was to humiliate me, and I’m sorry if you feel like you didn’t accomplish that. But I think it’s best if I leave.”
“I’ll be right there,” I say to her as she walks toward the door. Once she’s out of earshot, I turn to Asher. “Get this through that thick skull of yours. Harper isn’t yours anymore. You fumbled her because you wanted to pick up Kenzie, and you have to live with that decision. But Harper isn’t with me out of spite. Everyone here can probably agree that you and Kenzie deserve each other.”
When I step out of the room, I don’t see Harper. I hurry outside to find her leaning against my pickup, arms crossed, staring off into the distance.
I close the gap and cup her face, looking into her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“She never was my friend, was she?”
“No, baby, she wasn’t.”
Sighing, she nods and rests her forehead against my chest. “Can you bring me home? This was… some night.”
That’s putting it mildly. I kiss the top of her head and open the passenger door for her.
Hearing her tell Asher and Kenzie that she doesn’t care and doesn’t want him anymore, in front of people she once considered family, reassures me that she’s over Asher. It’s clear there’s still hurt, but I can help her work through it.
I’ve waited for her so long, and I’ll help her through the rest of it. We’re meant to be together, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
Chapter 40
Harper
Ford parks outside my parents’ house, and I’m still in shock. This night has been wilder than I anticipated, and I expected it to be a bit of a disaster, to be honest. “I thought Kenzie and I were friends at first. I believed there was something that changed, but now I see that none of our friendship was real,” I say.
