“Rowan, tell me.”
Rowan rolled his shoulders and then looked into my eyes. “Jesse had no music ready tonight, so I offered my playlist.”
“And these songs were on your playlist?”
“Yes.”
“You like Taylor Swift.” I tilted my head at him. “You’re pulling my leg.”
“I would never pull your leg unless you asked me to,” Rowan said solemnly.
“Hmm. Well, that’s unbelievable, but I don’t feel like fighting with you because I love this song!”
I allowed myself to be pulled back into his embrace, and we swayed for two more of my favorite songs by different artists. Those were obscure songs that not everyone liked. And there was no way he would have picked these songs out of the blue. If he hadn’t told me those were his playlist songs, I wouldhave thought Jesse picked all my favorite songs to play at the engagement party.
That thought gave me pause. How would I have felt if Jesse had done that? Did I believe Rowan’s theory that Jesse kept repeatedly picking a version of me? Would it have made me double down on stopping his wedding?
Something I hadn’t worked toward all night.
I twisted to look for the bride and groom in the room but couldn’t find them.
“Where are True and Jese?” I asked Rowan.
He shrugged. “I think they were fighting. I saw them head toward that door.” Rowan pointed to the kitchen.
I stepped away from my date and headed toward the kitchen. I reached out to push open the swinging door when it suddenly came flying at me. I put up both of my hands to protect my face, which accidentally shoved the door back toward the kitchen.
“Hotdoo-doo!” I heard someone scream on the other side of the door, and I scrambled to open it.
As I eased the door open, I found True covered head-to-toe in blood.
“Oh My Lanta! Holy shit! True, are you okay?” I kneeled on the floor beside her. “Where does it hurt? Where’s the blood coming from?”
She swiped a finger through the blood on her face and shoved it in my mouth. It tasted like…
“Cherry pie?” My jaw dropped. “Also, that was gross, True.”
She began giggling. “It seems as if my cherry pie exploded everywhere.”
“That’s what she said,” I snarked, then we both laughed like hyenas as the men in our lives arrived to watch.
“What is going on?” Jesse asked Rowan.
“A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste,” Rowan quipped.
I smiled at him and he grinned back at me, holding out a hand to help me up. It was a miracle I wasn’t covered in cherry pie, too.
“Awwww. You guys are so cute! It’s adorable! Jesse, help me up, please?” True said.
“Babe. You’re covered in cherries. Let me get a towel,” Jesse said, heading deeper into the kitchen.
Rowan reached a hand for True, which she gladly accepted and got to her feet.
“Thank you, Rowan. Such a gentleman.” True beamed at my date as Jesse returned with towels. She snatched two out of Jesse’s hands, handing one to Rowan and using the other to scrape cherry pie filling out of her hair. “I must look a mess.”
“Well,” Jesse began.
I backhanded him in the gut. “Nothing a quick shower can’t fix. What can we do to keep people happy until you return?”
