A door opens from somewhere behind me, and the noise of the celebration going on in the reception hall spills out. The sounds hit the quiet hallway in a quick burst then go quiet again when the door slams. I turn my head, hoping no one has come looking for me, and lose my breath when I see Sloane walking down the hall.
“I’ve got to go, Pop.”
I hang the phone up and put it in my pocket before turning to face her. By some twist of fate, we’re the only two people out here, but I know it won’t be long before someone comes looking for her. She’s the bride after all. And the most beautiful one I’ve seen in my life. I press my lips together to keep myself from saying that, or anything else, to her as she walks past me.
The same way she did years ago when one look in her eyes changed my entire life.
Only this time, she stops in front of me and turns on her heel. There’s a steely determination in her eyes when they land on me, and even though I know I’m in no condition to talk to her right now, I can’t bring myself tolook away. She comes to a stop in front of me, and her perfectly manicured fingers are on her wedding band, spinning it around in a gesture I can’t help but read as nervous.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
I recoil as if she’s physically struck me, and she might as well have, because hearing her repeat the first words she ever said to me makes it feel like someone’s ripping my heart right out of my chest.
“Why?”
Her teeth sink into the flesh of her bottom lip. “I was hoping we could come to some kind of agreement about how to navigate our relationship now that we’re…family.”
The laugh blooming in my throat tastes bitter as hell. Of all the things I dreamed of being with her, family isn’t one of them. At least not in the way she means. “I have no interest in being your family, Sloane.”
She holds her left hand up, and the light catches her ring. “Kind of late for that.”
“Marrying Eric makes youhisfamily, not mine.”
I watch my words kill all the hope she had in her eyes when she marched out here, and I wish I felt bad for the way they hurt her. Her shoulders sag, and her jaw tenses as a single spark turns into a full-blown flame. And standing there, with those soft black curls cascading down her back contrasting perfectly with the angelic white of her dress, she looks more like the woman I fell in love with than she has in years.
“So you plan to treat me likethisfor the rest of our lives?”
Both of my hands turn into fists, and I shove them into my pockets as I step into her orbit. Her scent floods my nostrils, the same fruity, floral notes from a lifetime ago making my stomach churn.
“I planto do you a favor and forget you wasted my time with this pointless conversation. Let’s just call it my wedding gift to you.”
Her lips part, and I can see all the things she wants to say scrollingacross her features like a billboard. Reading her is second nature to me at this point, like blinking or taking my next breath, and I know every word her response will contain before she says them.
“You’re such an asshole, Dominic. I don’t know why I ever thought we could be anything more than what we are right now.”
With a swish of her skirts and a withering glare, she twists on her heels and marches away. I watch her go, wondering how I’m going to survive the rest of my life with the weight of all the things I dreamed of being with her threatening to crush me.
Chapter 19
Sloane
Now
“There isn’t anything to tell, Mom. You were there for half of the date! You saw how it went.”
I’m speaking through clenched teeth as I slam my front door behind me, which can only mean it’s time to hang up the phone, because the next step is screaming at the top of my lungs that I don’t want to talk about my date with Ash Strickland.
Not with Mal, who spent the entire day insinuating that I made Ash leave early last night because I wanted to jump his bones.
Not with Mama, who found out about me dating through her big-mouth daughter and was surprisingly supportive even if there was a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.
And most definitely not with my mom, who still hasn’t apologized for the horrible things she said to me at dinner last week.
Apparently, she thought seeing me out with Ash last night meant Iwas finally taking her advice and getting under a new man to get over my dead husband, and I’ve spent the entire drive back to my house dodging her invasive questions when I should have been using that valuable time to think through what I’m going to say to Dominic when he picks me up for dinner in less than thirty minutes.
I planned on using the day to get my mind right and maybe call Dr. Williams to ask another hypothetical question about the best way to convince your husband’s best friend to fuck you five ways to Sunday, but Mama and Mal decided to turn breakfast into a full day of activities: shopping, nail salon, lunch at Twisted Sistas, and then an afternoon of massages and gossip.
We had an amazing time, but now I’m struggling to make it in the house and freshen up before Dominic gets here. I’ve only heard from him once today, a text to tell me to be ready at six and to leave my panties at home, and I’m more eager than I’ve ever been to be with him again.
