She doesn't wait for an answer and storms off toward the backrooms.
The room fractures, then, everyone whispering, giving looks, the entire place thick with scandal.
The euphoria drains out of me in one brutal rush.
I kissed a married man in front of his whole family, with Richard's ring strangling my finger.
"Alright, alright! Let's keep it moving!" Mara screams over the music and claps her hands, then waves frantically in one direction. "Shots at the bar! Everyone, go! DJ, crank some Italian disco!"
"Ben!" Antonio's bark cuts from across the room, but I can't see him. "Go find Lisa."
Ben whips his eyes to mine, torn between holding me and doing the right thing.
I tell him to go, and turn before he says anything, because I have to go find Richard. I have to explain.
I push past the blur of tuxedos and sequins, searching for his height and shape, then glimpse him just as he steps out intothe night air.
The second I burst through the doors, the city swallows me whole. The cold air slapping my face. Wet stink of pavement. Honks. Some crazy person screaming at the corner.
My stupid heels slow me down, so I try to kick them off, but the clasp won't budge. Screw it. I run anyway.
By the time I catch him, Richard's at the curb, one arm stabbing the night sky, summoning a cab.
He stops it right away, opening the back door, but I scream, "Wait!" and his shoulders lock up.
He says something to the driver and steps out while the car waits behind him.
Slowly, he turns, our eyes meet, and something inside me stops cold.
He looks at me, utterly disinterested, smoothing the cuff of his sleeve.
"I didn't mean to—"
His hand lifts, shutting me up and his voice comes out too slow. "Didn't mean to what? Completely humiliate me? Tear us apart publicly?" He steps closer, thrusting his phone inches from my nose, with a photo of me and Ben kissing, arms tangled, incredibly inappropriate.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I handled it, but you said you wanted to see how Ben treated me, and you didn't even allow me to get close to him—"
"You really thought that's what I wanted?" He snorts, like I'm an idiot. "No. I wantyou."
"But we didn't agree to this! What you said at the table, allthose horrible lies—"
"And you weren't a liar to me this whole time?"
"I'm sorry. For what I did. I don't want to make excuses—"
"No excuse could fix how shameless you are. Unfortunately, for once, I went against my better judgment."
The hiss of his words burns worse than a slap.
I open my mouth to say something when suddenly, his hand clamps down on my shoulder.
"You have the nerve. Do you know what I can do to a man who walks into my life and tries to ruin it?” Richard calls behind me and pulls me back. I stumble into him before spinning back to understand what's happening.
Ben's cutting through the honking cabs, the throb of lights at night, like a force of nature. His chest is a storm about to break, fists clenching by his sides.
After all that fury tonight, this can't end well. I have to do something.
I try to step aside, but Richard doesn't budge. His grip digs into my skin, making me wince.
