I can’t even wrap my mind around it. I didn’t expect this level of emotion and thoughtfulness on his part.
“I’m not the type of person who can be happy,” he tells me. “It’s a good thing that you were able to move on.”
There is so much pain in his voice when he says that, it makes me wish we were back at my place, or even his apartment. Anywhere where I could show him the type of affection that cannot be shown in public.
“What makes you think I have moved on, Alex?”
He stares back at me, unsure of how to answer my question. While I already know that I want him back, I don’t plan on making things too easy for him.
“The presence of a date made it obvious.”
My lips tremble in an effort to stop the smile that’s about to take over my entire face.
“Yes, I suppose it does,” I comment.
I take a step closer to him, my eyes scanning him from the top of his head to the bottom of the shiny shoes he’s wearing. He looks extremely handsome in his tuxedo, in a very James Bond type of way. All the men are dressed like this tonight, but I’m positive that Alex Connors is the most handsome of them all.
“What are you doing, Mona?”
There’s panic and excitement in his tone when I grab him by the lapels and pull him into me.
“You’re here with someone else. He’s…”
I drop my head back to look up at him as I finally allow myself to smile.
“He’s my fake date.”
Alex’s brows come down into a V as he watches me suspiciously.
“What fake date?”
I run my hands up and down before resting them onto his shoulders.
“From theHolidates,” I explain when I notice the incredulous look on his face. “You knew I was on there…”
He takes a step back, giving me no choice but to drop my hands from his shoulders.
“What the fuckHolidatesdate?” He spits out the words like they’re poison. “Iwas yourHolidatesdate!”
There’s disbelief in the loud snort I let out. “Who told you that you were my only date from there?”
I make it sound like a lot more than it actually was, but he deserves it.
“Kyle said he asked you if I was your plus one to this party…”
I roll my eyes. “Kyle asked me if theHolidatesdate was my plus one, and I said yes. I tried explaining that there was another person, but he was out the door before I had the chance to.”
“So you had an actual date lined up for this?”
“I had to,” I yell back. “After you didn’t respond to my message…”
He stares at me like I just grew a second head. “You never sent me a message!”
I roll my eyes again. “Well, I sent a message to the fake you. Julian Lewis,” I remind him. “When you didn’t get back to me, I started looking at my options…”
“But we were sleeping together by then,” he stutters.
I’m not sure if he’s trying to shame me, but I’ll give him a pass only because I’d feel the same way if things were reversed.
